


Master.

by SS98



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Abuse, Alpha Harry, Anal Sex, Angry Harry, Angst, Arranged Marriage, Blind Harry, Blow Jobs, Bottom Louis, Butt Plugs, Daddy Harry, Daddy Kink, Dark Harry, Dom Harry, Dominant Harry, Emotional Abuse, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gay Sex, Harry has black eyes, Harry is mean, Hurt Louis, Husbands, Hybrid Harry, Infidelity, Innocent Louis, Insecure Louis, Jealous Harry, Jealous Louis, King Harry, Louis hates pants, Louis in Lace, Louis in Lingerie, Louis in Panties, Louis-centric, M/M, Master Harry, Mental Anguish, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Mpreg, Mpreg Louis, Neglect, Neglected Louis, Oral Sex, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Harry, Possessive Louis, Post Apocalyptic World, Powerful Harry, Pregnant Louis, Public Sex, Rough Sex, Sad Louis, Sassy Louis, Sex Toys, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Shower Sex, Sinister Harry, Slightly - Freeform, Smoking, Smut and Angst, Smut and Fluff, Sub Louis, Submissive Louis, Swearing, Sweet Louis, Teasing, Top Harry, Triggers, Violence, at first, haemophilia, harsh harry, lol, lol who am i kidding, possibly, slight domestic violence, sorta - Freeform, that was a spoiler shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-14 11:10:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 97,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7168640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SS98/pseuds/SS98
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Seek refuge in the Heavens or in Hell, I will find you." Harry's eyes did the impossible and shone with the blackest abyss, smothering any kindness in the effort to get his feelings across. "May the Devil help the one who tries to take you from me."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**_[A/N: Warning that this story is going to be riddled with angst, despite my tears. It is inspired by Beauty & the Beast/Diary of a Mad Black Woman/the time when I put my milk into my bowl before the cereal. I have a good feeling about this book but it's going to be sob-worthy at the start. You're allowed to be angry with Harry but don't stop reading! Stick around and you'll see. TRIGGERS for emotional abuse, infidelity, slight domestic violence, explicit sexual content, Louis cries, bloodshed. - S xx]_ **

What do you do after the world ends? 

After the skyscrapers come down and blood flows in the shattered streets, there's nothing to do except mourn for one's loss or scramble for the next source of shelter. One outbreak from a single laboratory tore the world apart, one continent at a time.

Men's hearts turned the blackest colour and so did their eyes, until the moment when their maddened minds drove them to be carnivorous. Children were changed and they attacked their teachers. Pets were left with broken bones and torn flesh. One disease made the world bleed from its core.

Except after three years of enduring the suffering, there was a generation born resistant to the virus. They were only immune because the gene travelled in them, remained as a crucial thread in their anatomical make-up. Those babies where superior with their height and intense muscle structure. The frightening feature of theirs, was their ghastly black eyes surrounded by the consistently bruised blood vessels travelling from it before sinking into hiding under the pale skin coating their skull.

They lived so that humanity could crumble under the weight of their own adversity. Those from the new generation wouldn't burn in the sun or turn into wolves when the moon became whole, but their aesthetically displeasing teeth was a signature feature nauseated anyone who looked at it. Their teeth became more jagged towards the back - poking out at odd angles - where it grew out of their gums, and a continual issue they faced was the frequent bleeding from ruptured tissue.

There were many and then there were less than few, because carrying the gene of such a vicious virus was twice as dangerous as when it first came about. The new generation of children were misunderstood in traditional lands and killed, while in other areas they were killed during experimentation. They became extinct almost as quickly as they were born.

It was discovered later that a handful of these children survived and spread themselves out across the world. By then a vaccine was developed and one district became more powerful than all the others. They had a leader, one of the new generation youngsters who grew to his full potential.

Everyone else suffered. Time waited for no one and soon the majority of the planet extinguished itself.

  
* * * * *  


"Louis, don't wander off." Johanna mother chastised her son for being so easily distracted by the majesty of such a secure mansion.

Louis hummed but didn't care much for her reprimanding. He looked around him and made note of how tall the pillars were, how intricate the ornaments. They were in the foyer to a grand home of the man they came to visit on account of Johanna's desperate need to have her son kept safe. 

Five years after the destruction of the world and Louis is a young nineteen year old at last. His mother and he belonged to his father's settlement many leaks away from this mansion, but their resources are depleting and their walls are falling. The only way to ensure that Louis will be safe from that is to bring him here, where he'd belong to a new settlement.

The leader of the wealthiest settlement was the leader born with black eyes and had a poor heart. He inflicted upon his people the burden of calling him Master, even those closest to him, and ruled more as a dictator than friend of the public. Louis personally wanted nothing to do with a man so vile but he also found that his mind flickered to more intricate imaginative worlds whenever he was unentertained. This convinced him that he could endure anyone so obnoxious. 

"Louis." Johanna grabbed both Louis' wrists and pinned them with hers. "We can't risk angering him."

"By touching a vase?" Louis quirked his eyebrow but followed dutifully behind his mother nonetheless. "I'm thirsty."

"Wait for water then." She warned him strictly when someone's footsteps echoed through the foyer. 

"But-"

"Hush." She released him just as a representative of the leader here came around the bend under the staircase.

In formal wear and with a tight smile that lacked any emotion at all, this stranger held his hand out welcomingly. "Master will see you now."

Louis perked up from where he's investigating the local handiwork on one particular flower vase. Blood red roses sat stuffed into it, and Louis smiled because he hasn't seen flowers in months. "Does he really make you call him that?"

The representative's eyes widen in shock before he scurries off in the opposite direction, leading them to where they need to be. Louis ignores his mother subtle glower and winks her way instead.

Johanna walked ahead of Louis because her son was too occupied with the innards of the mansion to care. A grand set of oak double doors, crusted with silver and a titanium bolt, awaited them under the carpeted spiral staircase. While Johanna was awed with it, Louis touched the bolt to examine its fixtures.

"Come on." She takes his hand and waits for their newest companion to get a handle on the door.

"What's your name?" Louis asks politely to whom he had frightened earlier, noticing his battle with the doorknob.

"Alfie, Ma- Sir." His shaky voice broke Louis' heart and it showed. What was that lunatic doing on his throne that he terrified everyone so much?

"Call me Louis, Al." Louis spoke cheerily when the door finally gave way and he didn't care that there's a new set of daunting eyes focused on him.

The voice of that horrid presence spoke in a drawl, yet his arrogant tone was crisp clear. "He will not. Alfie, close the door."

Johanna and Louis were ushered in before Alfie hastily shut the barrier soundly, as if he's making sure that nothing would open it. Louis looked around him and whistled, oblivious of the attention on him from the room's occupant. Tall ceilings made of vintage art and an extensive golden table with one particularly profound seat made of a material stronger than steel.

It sat high and mighty with pitch black metal woven critically into an emblem of this house. Louis brought himself to _glance_ upon the soul in its cradle and was almost utterly terrified enough to gasp.

No doubt this individual is one of the resilient kind, born because God wasn't done with the human race. He had the signature black eyes, crimson pupils drowning in an abyss. The blackened veins formed a type of crown leading off from his eyes to hairline. That hair of his was long enough to graze his shoulders and he was _shirtless_.

"Sit." The formidable and disinterested man spoke, jerking his chin in the direction of two seats.

Louis couldn't help but stare. He has never met someone who was brought into the world with an immunity to the drug that still ran rampant outside. It was both breathtaking and horrifying. This person's chest carried enough tattoos in black and silver ink to serve as a scrapbook, all devilish imagery printed on his skin forever.

Johanna sat, obviously wanting to impress this leader so Louis could stay here, while he had no intention of planting any facade. His voice carried to their host's ears in a musical timbre. "Can I come closer?"

Everyone stopped breathing in the room and it was noticeable by the rush of blood draining from Johanna's face. Louis was undeterred. He watched the so-called Master of this territory raise his head from his papers and look at him in evident surprise. A pen was toyed with between his hands, dexterous fingers pulling the cap off before reattaching it.

He had a perfectly carved jaw that impressed Louis to no end, and slightly hollow cheeks that were evidence of dimples. There was evidence of the puzzling teeth feature by the subtle swelling of the man's cheeks, obviously to accommodate the upset stability of his molars.   
His lips were plump and dark, a couple shades lighter than the black of his eyes. Louis remembers hearing something about those new generation children having black lips, what told everyone that they had no sense of taste.

"Sit." Was all the intimidating man said in repetition, not even a smirk to display amusement.

Louis bit his lip and supposed he could take a load off, the chairs looked quite comfortable. He crossed his legs on the cushion and the Master noticed.

"Alfie told me why you're here." He said to them, leaning forward with a pin straight spine. Louis tried to emulate that posture right there but gave up quickly. "I can't say I've gotten a proposal like this before."

"Proposal?" Louis intervenes. He did not say yes to any _proposal_ when his mother asked whether he'd consider this move. 

"Hush." Johanna silences him with a glower like the ones her son earned whenever he climbed a tree.

Louis sighed stubbornly and pretended to not notice that the most feral stare was focused all on him at that moment. He wrung his fingers together tightly on his lap and chewed his lip. 

Johanna cleared her throat but no amount of assertion could save anyone from being scared by this nightmarish eyes flickering to them. "Have you considered anything?"

"I have." Harry sits back again with a sniffle and tosses his pen onto the table, a collision that makes Johanna's heart race. "I will marry your son."

Louis considers the painful sensation in his chest to be a stroke. "Huh?"

"That is not what you asked for but that's what you're going to get." The Master raised his voice to silence all protests, his deathly red eyes settled on Louis'. "If he's going to stay here he might as well serve a purpose to me."

"That's disgusting." Louis' lips screwed up into a distasteful scowl. Johanna felt her heart leap into her throat and make her nauseous.

"What did you say?" The Master's gaze narrowed threateningly on his acquaintance, hiding his curled fists under the table. Anger bubbled in his veins. 

Louis didn't care to filter his sharp tongue and his gracious sapphire orbs morphed into irritation. "I won't marry you."

"You will." Master gritted his teeth and his nails dug into the inside of his palms. "I want to impose tax on my people and they'll need reassurance that their leader isn't a fool."

Louis was infuriated by this man's pride and lack of dignity. He stood up from his chair with a furious determination that would fuel his mind for weeks. "We're leaving, Mother."

Johanna couldn't agree more but when she stood up, Louis saw Harry's eyes dart to something else before returning. Something undeniably cruel was born in the shape of his dimpled smirk, the raspiness or accent of his appealing voice stood for nothing when he was such a cold man. Louis felt himself being grabbed and not by his mother.

"Let me go!" He shouted against the imprisonment of two guards ceasing him by his arms. Kicking his legs to knock them off their balance, struggling in vain against the brutish strength bearing down on him. "Mother! Ma, help me!"

Johanna couldn't because she was being dragged away by three escorts that weren't refraining from using force. Louis barely touched her hand before it was snatched from him. He screamed for her and tears sprung to the corners of his eyes, burning like molten rock as they breached their territory. 

"Ma!" He choked on the lack of air in his lungs, the lump in his throat. "Ma, come back! Bring her back!"

The look of fear on Johanna's face disappeared behind the doors and she was gone, taken from him. Louis' face was blotchy with red streaks and his voice broke from shouting, his legs giving out in defeat when the guards released him. He fell to the floor in a heap of broken feelings, shivering and shaking from how distraught he was made to feel.

A pair of leather boots found its way in front of him and Louis didn't dare look up before getting to his feet. The vicious Master of this house was getting no satisfaction from dominating him. Louis will bury himself alive under a heap of thorns before letting him win.

Their height difference was phenomenal and Louis stood as tall as the Master's clavicle. He glared powerfully with all the strength of his being up at this ruler, too close for comfort. The sight of them being so close was enough to upset Louis' twisted insides and he could examine each contour of the Master's handsome face. 

"Welcome to my home, Louis." The chilling voice came from cursed lips and made Louis' skin prickle. "Later I will show you my bed."

Louis wiped the last of his tears of scoffed, not allowing himself to avert his gaze from the intensity of the Master's stare. "Don't ever try to touch me, Harry."

The use of his birth name caught the Master off guard and Louis felt himself gain leverage for once. He smirked to reflect Harry's radiating confidence until it all faded when Harry's demonic eyes turned into a hateful glare. He spun around and retrieved something from under his table, returning with a loaded gun in his hand.

Louis started backing up with significantly large steps towards the door, turning to run at the last minute. All that came of it was a theatrical fall, ending in his face rooted to the floor and a searing pain coming from his nose. He'd broken it from such a severe impact. Before he could hide there were two gunshots and Louis felt nothing, saw nothing until he turned around and the set of guards were bleeding all over the rug.

He stared in panic at Harry from his fallen state while the man holstered his weapon in the band of his jeans. "How do you know my name?"

Louis was too frightened to answer. The pool of blood was growing larger, creeping towards his fingertips the more time he spent on the floor.

"Answer me!" Harry bellowed, a shout that rattled the windows. 

"I h-heard a song about you." Louis flinched and gathered his scattered wits quickly, pressing his back to the door when he stood. "I didn't think it was true."

Harry stalked toward him and Louis turned away when warm breath fanned his cheek, a hard fist slamming into the door above his head. "No one must find out my name. Am I clear?"

"Yes." Louis shivered visibly and screwed his eyes shut with a whimper when something tangible yet cold trailed down the column of his throat.

"That's why those men had to die." Something encircled Louis' throat and held on, his hand forming a choking necklace for the boy. "Only here for a day and you've cost me two men."

Louis opened his eyes and there they were, two hearts that stopped beating for a reason less than sufficient. Guilt wrecked his body and plagued his mind, his bottom lip quivering. 

"Tomorrow will be our wedding." Harry informed him like Louis was merely being invited, the chilled grip getting tighter around the base of Louis' neck. "Wear white."

"I won't marry you." Louis had nothing left if he didn't fight for some independence. "I'd rather die than love you."

"You're not going to love me. You won't fucking _touch_ me." Harry snarled vengefully, mildly cutting off Louis' air supply. That frustration travelled like lead through his veins. "We will, however, sleep in the same bed every night no matter who I fuck first."

Louis' ferocity shone like two sparkling stars in the bluest night sky, a burning passion that any person would find breathtaking. A creature as petite and fragile as he had so much emotion, each deep and interlocked. "I will not wed you. I will _never_ -"

Harry had ceased Louis by his elbow and shoved him heartlessly against the wall, getting in the boy's personal space with as much threat to his nature as possible. He feels the bruises form under his fingertips and licks his lips, a bright red streak getting painted across the seam from his bleeding gums.

"You will." Harry's nails screech as they're dragged down the wall. "You're even going to going to give me a kiss but don't worry about it going further than that."

Louis swallowed around the poisonous lump in his throat and felt his throat turn cold from the air he breathed. "You really won't force me to-"

"Believe me when I say I won't lay a hand on you." Harry releases Louis' elbow but not before warning him to be cautious with a dark look. From head to toe, those stoney green eyes raked over his body is obvious disparage. "There are better things to do with my time."

Instead of being hurt, Louis masked the sting of Harry's words with a tight grimace. "I'm sure there are."

The expression that came over Harry's features was not easy to decipher. His eyes harden to stone onyx, pitch black and bleeding pain. He clenched his fists so that the veins leading up to his arm strained against his papery thin skin. "I've have thirty two lovers and _none_ of them spoke to me as you are."

Louis rolled his eyes and blatantly disregarded Harry's aggressive step forward, pressing him back into the door. He tilted his head back so their faces were inches apart, not allowing himself to seem intimidated. Harry's black eyes looked so _surreal_ as they struck Louis as strangled of something pure, embodying the tortured ashes left behind.

"You don't scare me." Louis spoke defiantly, chest inflated and heart racing. 

"Not yet." Harry corrected hauntingly, his bloody pupil dilating when they found Louis' peaceful sapphires. "All my other lovers were quite terrified to disappoint me."

"We are not lovers." Louis points out with a tired sigh. "And after imposing this tax of yours I doubt you'll have any more."

Harry laughed for the first time since Louis walked into his home, pushing his unreasonably lengthy hair back over his head with sharp fingernails. "I don't think so as well. You'll have to do at times like that."

Louis frowned in disgust and eyed Harry like he was the foulest creature to walk the Earth. "I'll kill you if you come near me."

"Don't worry." Eyes lit with mirth, Harry clasped either side of Louis' face in steel hands, stilling any resistance with his bloody lips. He spoke and Louis saw that his tongue was red too, obvious indications that his gums were worsening. "If it comes to that, I'll kill myself for you."

His words seemed to be aimed at hurting him on purpose, targeting Louis' body for now because that's all Harry knew. Louis hasn't lived a life like his for the past five years to tear up when someone body shamed him or looked at him like dirt. However, he has lived a difficult life and could tell living here will be the beginning of his end. No amount of food supplies and fuel resources could compensate for this.

"You've had a long journey, Louis." Harry didn't pull away one inch to allow Louis breathing space. His vindictive smirk was crippling Louis' spirit already. "Ask Alfie to take you upstairs. You are not allowed to leave these grounds, if you do you'll spend the night out in the cold."

"I thought you needed me." Louis fired back with a challenging glimmer in his words. "The people need to think you aren't a fool, remember?"

Harry's hand got so restrictive around Louis' throat that he could only breathe by turning red in the face, ten fingers clawing at the iron clad grip on his neck. The pain shot up to the inside of his skull, exploding and ricocheting off the walls of his mind. Harry dropped his hand when his fingers left decent bruises on Louis' skin.

"You're right." Harry took three strides and he was a safe distance away from Louis, his panting victim. Black met blue across that space and one trembled with fear. "In fact, _I'll_ escort you to the room. You will remain there for the rest of the day."

"What if I want to go exploring?" Louis' fiery nature has resurfaced and no amount of bruises or battering could hinder him. 

Harry was indubitably astounded to have met a boy today this much younger than he with no reservations about addressing him directly. He almost wonders what of this world Louis has seen to make him so bold. "You cannot."

"Why not?" Louis abandoned the tedious task of rubbing away Harry's fingerprints from his neck. He looked around the room again, stopping when he saw an abundance of book shelves hoisted on a level above this one. "You have a library."

Harry's frown was etched in detail onto his brow. He stared at Louis in passive annoyance and sighed. "You can explore within the walls of this house."

Louis wanted to grin because he got something out of this but the weight on his heart from an absent mother was still heavy. He nodded and turned to unlock the door.

"Are you forgetting something?" The corner of Harry's mouth curled into a devious smug smile. 

"No." Louis didn't look at him, didn't do more than murmur his disintegrating thread of rebellion.

He hears the sound heavy boots hitting the hollow wooden floors, approaching him with every breath. "You are in my home, and therefore you will respect me."

Louis knew what he was implying and got the door handle to release in time to step through a small opening. "Bash me all you want, Harry. You are not my Master."


	2. Chapter Two.

**_[A/N: I guaranteed tears in this story. Wish I could take it back. - S xx]_ **

Harry kept to his word of escorting Louis to the room he will be staying in, and as sinister as those black eyes were Louis finds that he's become accustomed to them being on him always. He won't ask what about him is so revolting that Harry can't look away.

Above the grand spiral staircase was an extensive hallway of twenty plus doors, all neatly lined up on one wall. Louis found that they were all identical except for the engraved emblem at the top of each. Some were 'S' and others were carvings of various predatory animals. 

"What do they mean?" He asked Harry without turning around, brushing one sterling silver doorknob with his fingertips.

Harry was leaning against the balcony railing, arms crossed and watching Louis touch everything with a steady frown. "Doesn't concern you."

"I live here now." Louis saw some maids walking down the hall and smiled courteously at them, only to have the trio scurry off fearfully after seeing Harry. "It should concern me."

"Mind your tongue." Harry warned him, tone serious as he shoved off the railing and caught Louis' elbow. "I could snap you like a twig and find another insecure bitch to marry."

Louis pulled his arm free with more pressure on the sting behind his eyes than before. He said nothing besides a shaky nod and looked elsewhere. His abrupt rotation of moods puzzled Harry but was not enough to make him curious. He's glad this boy finally shut himself up. 

"You will stay in here." Harry found the last door in the hallway and unlocked it with a key from his jeans pocket. 

When he turned to concentrate on the lock, Louis saw his back for the first time and stared at the artwork sprawled across it. There was the tattooed image of three scratch marks running down Harry's back from nape to hip. It was pure black except for red splatters at the edges and Louis found it fascinating.

"Is this why you never wear a shirt?" Louis was already reaching out to touch the inking but Harry swung the door open and stepped away.

Red eyes were a little wide for a _second_ before they returned to a grim look. Louis realises that he may have affected Harry with the question.

"Get in." Harry instructed, grabbing Louis' wrist and yanking. He didn't care where the boy fell when he pulled so harshly and slammed it shut again, locking the door from outside. He spoke from the other side of the door. "I will send food up for you. Don't try to leave."

Harry waited for ten minutes for Louis to answer but no response came and before anything akin to worry could surface, he walked away. 

Louis was shaking on the floor of Harry's room, his arm giving out every time he tried to hoist up his weight. His free hand quivered like a terrified child when he touched his hip and saw blood on all five blurry fingertips. He'd been shoved to the ground and tripped, stumbled on something before landing on something sharper. 

Upon examination, Louis discovered that there was a gash the size of his finger bleeding out across his waist. Being a haemophiliac since birth and since his earlier treatment failed, there was only the option of his emergency medication.

He kicked off his shoes and ignored the red streaks he left on the wall while supporting himself, making it past the perfected bed and into the bright bathroom. Blood was on the tap and under the spray of water when he rinsed his hand, hunting for his medication in his pockets. When the little blue bag was found, he opened the needle on the third try and whimpered when he stabbed it directly into the injury. 

His settlement has been able to develop the medicine that caused immediate clotting and he felt reassured when it started working. Nonetheless, Louis sniffed and looked at himself in the mirror. Blood was smeared across his neck over the bruises Harry made with his fingers, the protruding bone of his clavicle sticking out. 

Louis ignored all that and opened the cabinet behind the mirror to find the appropriate gauze. He taped it down over his sliced skin and took his shirt off entirely, tossing it into a pile at the foot of the shower. 

In this grand room of his, Louis found that the bed was made with plain white sheets and stole a feather pillow to hug as he walked around these confines. A desk sat barren in front of a window that overlooked the property at the back and neigboured a naked tree. Louis saw himself spending many an hour there.

There was nothing to do after he inspected this room except find a rag and wipe the mess he'd made off the walls. It looked spotless by the time he finished and he washed his stained shirt in the sink, folding it neatly to put in an empty drawer.

Louis sighed dejectedly and fell back onto the organised bed, hoping to roll around in it. When he did, there came a creak of the structure followed by a whine. 

His hip ached significantly when he woke up and got on his knees bending over to peek under the bed. A pair of sparkling eyes looked back at him and Louis cooed when he discovered that they belonged to another occupant of this room.

"Hello there." He shuffled backward and smiled kindly so the animal could see, crossing his legs on the floor. "Come on out, love."

It took a minute or two but eventually Louis had another creature to talk to. He was surprised to see a three-legged puppy crawl out and slowly hop over to him. Covered in white fur except for his grey tummy, this little canine was also dirty from being under the bed for who knows how long.

"Let's clean you up." Louis picked the animal up and saw its piercing green eyes above a snowy muzzle. 

Louis found a bucket under the bathroom counter and filled it with warm water. He washed the pup with ordinary shampoo and playfully scrunched his nose when the animal yelped at the foam on its nose. After a thorough rinsing, Louis dried the dog with a hair-dryer and carried him to the bed.

"So what are you in for?" Louis asked the puppy when he's got it laying on its side. "What happened to your leg, love?"

Green eyes darted from the mattress' sheets the puppy was biting to its peripheral, regarding Louis cautiously. 

"I'm going to call you Snow." Louis declares. He kisses behind the dog's ear and listens to it make a content rumble. "I like it too."

  
* * * * *  


Harry stewed in his chair. He couldn't concentrate on the paperwork he had at hand like he was _before_ Louis came into his life. Fierce and terrified was that boy.

"Alfie!" He roared so that his voice carried through the heavy double doors. _"Alfie!"_

After some scrambling that Harry pretended not to hear, those doors opened. "Yes Master?"

Harry bit the cap of his pen, felt the plastic crumble before cracking under his torture. There was extra moisture in his mouth but he couldn't taste it but after this many years, he knows what it is. "Get the kitchen to prepare something for Louis."

"Yes Master." Alfie nods close to three times before backing out.

Harry was looking down at the page he was scribbling across mindlessly, his signature being a filthy scrawl. "Was I _done_ , Alfie?"

"N-No, Master." Alfie curses himself on the inside when he remembers the rules put out to him. 

"When do you know when I'm done?" Harry further antagonised the poor soul in a quivering body.

"When you dismiss me." Alfie replied clearly. 

Harry looked up with a repellent smirk and tossed his disintegrated pen into the bin. "Make sure Louis gets something to eat twice before I come back from Regina's camp. When I return, I want you to send this letter to her father. We won't be joining them in any pact and they need to get off our land. And get me another fucking pen. Now, you're dismissed. Get out."

Alfie shut the door hurriedly behind him and Harry sat back in his chair, lost in thought. He promised Regina he'd visit her tonight but entertaining himself with a conversation where his most recent acquaintance would participate seemed more enticing. Regina would flip her shit but come crawling back when Harry's letter reached her father that he's not only kicking her out, but their entire tribe.

After plenty of minutes spent sitting there with no purpose other than snatching up his pen when Alfie brought it, Harry got up from his seated position. He signed one more declined treaty and prepared for an hour or two outdoors.

"Bring me a shirt." Harry ordered Alfie when the hunched assistant was too close to the door. "Send a decent competitor to the back. I'm in the mood for a fight."

The choice of venue was decided in no small part because Louis' window overlooked those grounds clearly. Alfie nodded obediently and ran off to get the desirables. Harry found his blade in a locked drawer to his left and unsheathed it from its leather holster, admiring its mesmerising glint when light bounced off it.

  
* * * * *  


Louis was fond of the fact that his newest pet - an asset he's never gotten before - fell asleep whenever it got its tummy tickled. He sighed with a little deflation about his shoulders and crept towards the edge of the bed before swinging his legs over the edge. 

He's glad the floors are carpeted and that he's taken off the burden of his pants so he feels personally more free in his own skin. The pet slept soundly amongst his covers while Louis approached the balcony doors, intrigued by their frosted pattern. He brushed the brass doorknob but didn't register their cool touch.

Beyond those doors was the cleared meadow on this property. Louis didn't feel the frigid chill on his bare feet or exposed legs. He bit his lip and looked around curiously, down at the sparse colourful flowers and lush green grass. All that beauty was guarded by the thorns and twigs of dry trees, tall and haunted.

On the palisaded edge of the balcony, Louis placed his hands so he could lean over. Without a second of thought he hoisted himself up to lie across the marble guard, enough width to support his back as he looked up at the pale blue sky. His skin had turned a healthy pink and he bent his knees in the air, arms crossed under his head.

Movement from below him caught Louis' attention and he turned his head to the happenings breaching the peaceful meadow. An aggravated grumble fell from his lips when he saw none other than Harry with his broad shoulders slimming into a strong back, walking onto the field. Louis crossed his ankles and turned back to sky.

Harry saw him. In fact, Harry was seeking him out as soon as he stepped onto the grass. The Master of such the only empire in this new world wanted to know if Louis was as peculiar as he thought, if the boy returned such curiosity as he expressed for Louis. He spotted the boy he is to wed lounging nonchalantly on the balcony on a platform closest to the edge and fought a great deal not to notice the smooth stretch of the skin over his thighs.

"Alfie!" He shouted, not looking away and frowning when Louis turn towards them. "Did you take Louis his food?"

Still no response except Alfie's. "Not yet Master."

Harry had excellent vision and it was presently a curse because he could tell Louis wasn't so much as rolling his eyes to indicate that he was paying him any mind. "Do you want him to starve, Alfie? Take him his food."

"Yes, Master." Alfie nodded repetitively and maddened, waiting with a twitch in his eye to be dismissed. 

"Do me a favour, Alfie." Harry saw Louis sit up and couldn't look away. "Send Regina's father that letter now as well. You're dismissed."

When his mindless and simpleton of an assistant rushed off into the house to get his appointed tasks done, Harry took a moment to see what Louis was doing. The boy was still right there on the balcony, now astride the guarding palisades with his shirt curved just under the tops of his thighs. He had hairless skin that's nipped by the cold and an obvious tan. 

He watched Louis for some few more heartbeats. His target was deep in thought by the state of his scrunched up nose and arched back. Louis' feet couldn't touch the floor of the balcony, but his toes were pointed like he still wanted to reach it. 

Harry looked to the opponent he's supposed to fight. "Come here."

There was a sudden snap caused by Harry tearing off his own shirt when the rival approached. He had a marker in his back pocket from the set of stationery Alfie brought him that he uncapped with his mouth, spitting out the cap. He wrote furiously across the fabric of his shredded shirt.

_I don't want to marry you with a head cold._

"Give this to Louis before Alfie gets to him." Harry tacks on the latter requirement for the fun of it, to see whether it can get done.

  
* * * * *  


Louis is called away from the chilly air of the balcony when someone knocks on his door. He swings his leg over the balcony guard and makes his way indoors, hissing at the abrupt temperature contrast. The glass double doors close behind him before he goes to the door and realises Harry locked it.

"I can't open this door." He calls to whoever it is on the other side, chewing his lip. 

Apparently, consent was all his unnamed visitor needed before there was shuffling and a familiar click of the lock. He waited for the door to swing back on its hinges before identifying the guest.

"Hey Alfie." Louis greets mildly, not at all uncomfortable to be friendly with the persistently insecure individually. He eyed the silver tray in his hands. "What's up?"

"Master sent this for you." Alfie held out the tray of lidded food and Louis got an array of glorious aromas from it. 

Out of nowhere came another visitor that's been running down the hallway until he was out of breath. Louis involuntarily stepped back when his gasping person came into view, bursting into a giggle when they hunched over at his door.

"Are you okay?" He asked with kind eyes that were bright with amusement. 

The newer stranger waved off Louis' concern and handed him a balled up piece of cloth. "I'm fine. Master sent this."

Louis rolled his eyes in exasperation and let Alfie into his room to put the food down on the table. He let the cloth fall open and found that not only did it have sleeves, but also a giant rip down the back. The scrawl across the chest region caught his eye and within seconds he was storming out onto the balcony.

"Hey!" Louis spotted Harry still in the field with two new sets of arms to compete with. He minded his speech to not say Harry's name when he called to the man. "Hey Master!"

Harry's head snapped towards him and those remarkably dark eyes clouded by dead, blackening skin made Louis' spine shiver. He was obviously frowning but Louis didn't register that and not after long was Harry headed straight for him.

"You should probably go." Louis told Alfie and the other one with a nervous smile, already aware of the streaking boots across linoleum. First, he took the silver key that controlled his own door from Alfie. "Now you can go. Go quickly."

The two males _barely_ round the corner before Harry appears, a seething mass of muscle and height. He gripped the frame of Louis' door and a tempest brewed in his lethal gaze as he towered over the boy, bare chested with clenched fists.

Louis handled this calmly and looked up at Harry innocently. "Hi."

Something fleeting passed through Harry's eyes but he smothered it to its death before it festered. "What the fuck do you mean by shouting for me like that?!"

Louis sighed and a little pout formed on his lips when his tummy growled from lack of sustenance. "I shout all the time. It's a hobby."

"Yes and you will abandon that hobby today." Harry warned him in a deliberate, rueful tone. "I will not be disrespected in any way."

His betrothed wasn't facing him anymore and Harry wondered how much of an attention span Louis had. He grew frustrated with such neglectful behaviour and pulled Louis back, tossing his back against the wall to crowd the boy into a tiny space. Louis had the audacity to touch Harry, put his hands on the man's chest for leverage because his balance was poor.

"I didn't mean to disrespect you." Louis is the first person to pin Harry with his electric blue eyes. He had a small voice, feigning such sinful innocence. "Thank you for caring about me getting sick."

Harry is _confused_. Never has he been at such a loss for words as this before. Whatever game Louis was playing had to stop. "What are you doing?"

With an animated scoff that quirked Harry's attention, Louis dropped his hands from the man's pectorals and stepped around him swiftly. "You're going to be my husband after tomorrow."

"I am aware." Harry followed Louis to the table laden with fresh food and watched the boy break a bread stick in half. 

"Want some?" He offered the notably smaller half to Harry but the latter was too flabbergasted to respond on time. 

Harry steeled his will and shook his head clear of images involving Louis when the boy's T-shirt rode up to the promising curve of his derriere. He realised just how off his game he's been thrown by this boy _in one day_. 

"I was thinking-" Louis hops up onto the table so that his feet are off the ground. "-I'll leave you alone for the rest our lives together if you let me see my mom."

This proposition intrigued Harry into a little smirk. His dimples were burdened by the spread of black over his skin and he was more foreboding than comforting. "I can't allow that."

Louis really didn't predict their conversation going this way when he thought it up. "Why not?"

"Simply." Harry shrugs and crosses his arms, leaning his side against Louis' wall. "The settlement you came from is on land that's very volatile. They're still prone to quakes and the like. I can't have my husband in that sort of environment."

"We haven't had a quake or- or even a tremor in two years, Harry." Louis argued, getting off the table to step closer to the man. His earnest was piercing to anything but the iron Harry's heart was made of. "You have to let me go back."

"No." Harry had reason for doing this. He knew the reason and that was good enough. 

He was not one to avoid doing research on the people he involved himself with. Louis' former home might not have been subject to the hazardous quakes and hurricanes before but they will be soon. Harry's had investigations done and his findings assert the fact that in a month or two, that land will be a pile of rubble.

"Harry!" Louis' shout was pathetic and pleading.

" _Don't ever_ -" Harry pinned Louis to the wall by his shoulders, the red in his eyes blazing. "-raise your voice at me again."

Louis was insistent. He held onto Harry's wrists where they captured his biceps and tried not to visibly shiver from the bony contact. "Why won't you let me go home?"

"This is your home now." Harry pulled away and left Louis slumped against the wall. He paced to the balcony doors and back, a hand raking through his hair. 

"Please?" Louis had his arms wrapped securely around himself, fingers twitching where they could feel his bandaged hip. 

"No!" Harry bellowed in an angry timbre, the frightening volume bouncing off the walls and making Louis' ears ring. "Stop asking me! You _cannot_ leave this house and you _will not_. Am I in any way unclear?"

Louis sniffed and let his head fall back against the wall, defeated. His back slid down the cold rose wallpaper until the carpet met his unclothed thighs and he was sat down. He nodded tersely with a fresh sting to his tired eyes.

"Answer me when I speak to you, Louis." Harry didn't care about how battered Louis felt emotionally. "Am I clear?"

"Yes." Louis answered hoarsely, head angled to the left so he didn't have to hear Harry storm out and slam the door. 

He waited for two heartbeats before turning back to where Harry's silhouette was. The silver key lay on the ground, thrown there after Harry's fit of rage.

  
* * * * *  


Louis has been roaming the halls for two hours with his pet at his side. He didn't want to carry the three-legged creature and coddle it; this world wasn't for the weak. It didn't seem to have a problem with keeping up either and stuck to the vicinity of Louis' ankles.

He will shamefully admit that Harry's mansion is beautiful. The hallways were wonderlands with the old world's sacred artwork preserved up on his walls. The red carpet ran from wall to wall, crystal chandeliers on the ceilings. Louis was in a pair of shorts that he dug out after Alfie brought his luggage up to his new room.

"Let's go in there." He whispers to Snow. It's the white branded door next to Harry's study that must lead to the Master's library.

His guess was correct and soon Louis was lost in shelves upon shelves of aged, classic and previously modern literature. Ladders were at each shelf and Louis tiptoed to the railing, peering over the edge to find Harry seated at his grand table. He ducked back before he could be caught.

He doesn't know what to make of a man like Harry. In one day, Louis was utterly terrified of him yet at the same time intrigued. Harry is an entirely different shade of man, harder and more beastly, but there had to be something beautiful about that.

Louis put his finger to his lips as a passive reminder to remain quiet, and found some titles that would interest him. He's created a heap of ten novels before he's shocked breathless after turning around to see Harry standing a foot away, lips set in an impassive line. 

Louis waited to be yelled at for something he'd disregard but the man merely let his eyes trail down the length of his body, before walking away. He breathed a sigh of relief and realised that he was clutching a book tight enough in his hands that they went numb. 

"We better go back." He tells Snow, picking up his heap of books in both arms. "It's weird being out here."

Halfway on his way to the door Louis trips and fall flat on his arse. He tries - and fails - not to audibly whimper and reassures Snow's wagging tail that he's fine after a second. Heavy footsteps make his heart pound and blood run cold. Snow disappears under the staircase and Louis looks up at Harry a little helplessly.

"You are extraordinarily clumsy." Harry's distasteful attitude and frown was not new to Louis, especially when he yanked the boy up by his wrist. 

"Hey!" Louis cried out when he was being thrown over Harry's shoulder and notices the ground much farther away than usual.

Harry gathers Louis' books impossibly fast and walks out of the library casually, as if there wasn't a protesting boy wiggling on his shoulder. Louis was towed this way up to his bedroom and dumped on the bed unceremoniously, Snow pattering in afterwards. Harry is many feet above him and Louis suddenly feels shy, crossing his knees to guard his chastity.

"I reckon you should stay here for the rest of the day." Harry clears his throat and can't be bothered to bat an eye when Louis rolls onto his front. He moves toward the window and drops Louis' books onto his table. "You haven't eaten."

"Yeah." Louis was paging through the oldest reader's digest he picked out, remembering when he used to visit the school library in the old world. There were _so many books._ ; he wonders what happened to all of them. 

"The food is cold." Harry states bluntly in disapproval. "You need to eat."

"I'm not hungry." Louis replied defensively. "Besides, why do you suddenly care about whether or not I eat?"

Harry glared daggers into Louis' back. He grabbed the boy by his ankles and flipped him over forcefully, pinning Louis with the intense ferocity of his blackened irises. "What you do is a reflection on me. It would do you good to remember that."

Louis had his lips slightly parted and his blue, blue eyes were a little startled but nothing beyond that indicated that he was frightened. This boy was brave, Harry noted. "If I eat, I want it to be something I'll enjoy."

"Fine." Harry huffed and straightened up again, his body turning hot and cold all over. "Since you behave like the queen of _my_ castle, I'll personally take your request to the kitchen"

Louis propped himself up on his elbows and thought deeply about what he wanted. "Will you bring me the food when it's ready?"

Harry found the idea amusing. "I will send Alfie to call you can you can eat with me in my study."

"How noble of you." Louis smiled his toothy grin and if Harry had known him for a lifetime, he may have smiled back. "I think that's a sweet deal."

Harry swallows thickly and doesn't respond. He runs his tongue along the bleeding ridges where his teeth where plunged into sensitive gums. They were at odds with one another and always remembers the time when he was softer. When people chose to be away from him when he ate because it was 'disturbing'.

"I want a burger." Louis declares, falling onto his back like a damsel in distress. "A burger and lots of chips."

Nevertheless, Harry's cooks are startled and pleasantly surprised when he walks into their kitchen with food orders. He gets blackened salmon for himself but doesn't fail to wince when he thinks about the clean up of his teeth after. The cooks go about their duty and Harry saunters into his study, but not before glancing numerous times at the staircase like he hoped someone full of mischief would appear at the top. 

"He loves 'im." One of the cooks told the other, an aged once Irishman who had a thirst for every brand of Whiskey.

His female counterpart snorted in derision. Her husband was obviously drunk again. "If I e'er met a man to ne'er wanted to get married, it was Master."

"Well, marriage aint the same thin' as love." The Irishman burst into cackles when his wife threw a skillet at him. "I'm tellin' ya, he loves 'im. Either that or he's about to."

  
* * * * *  


Harry was _fuming_ by the time Alfie went up to call Louis. His assistant just returned with word from Regina's father, followed by the woman herself. Now he's had to hear her earful of bull shit on a day when he _thought_ there wouldn't be a reason to get pissed off.

"What is this?!" She held the crumpled letter in her groomed nails. It was beyond Harry how her settlement even managed to provide that for her.

He coolly glances at the signed document. "Sign of eviction. Get off my land before my men make sure it's done."

Her scathing grey eyes stayed on him, her stick-like figure arched to appear curvaceous. While she shouts, Harry thinks about why he ever chose her. "And what about me?"

"First, if you scream one more time you're going to be spending the rest of the day in the kennels." Harry warned her, threat lacing his words. "Second, I need you to get out of my house."

"What?" She had a high-pitched mournfulness to her tone. "I thought-"

Harry's face screwed up in disgust. "I know you thought you loved me and that I you but, Regina, you're fucking obnoxious. This is your last warning to _get out_."

"Um." A third voice interrupted them and all eyes flickered to the new-comer. Louis stood awkwardly by the door, still in his shorts and a fresh shirt, crossing his ankles with his two fingers raised. "Is this a bad time?"

It wasn't for Harry because after a day of struffing for a thousand different reasons, he'd like to have a quiet meal. Unfortunately, this was all Regina needed to flip her self-centeredness on unsuspecting Louis.

"Come in." Harry nodded to his future husband and watched Louis shuffle along the wall towards a far corner where Harry's private documents were. He made sure Louis was a safe distance from Regina, occupied with leafing through random books before turning back to the woman. "Will that be all, Regina?"

"And who's _that_ then?" She points accusingly at Louis, the latter of which looks up with distaste. 

"Excuse me?" Louis raised his eyebrow challengingly and moved away from the books to be a step behind Harry.

"Quiet." Harry muttered to him in warning. He barely tilted his head to the side for Louis to see his darkened lips moving. "I will handle this."

"My bad. Go on." Louis raised his hands in surrender and backed away. He was in no mood to argue after the day he's had and returned to the pages he knows he isn't allowed to read.

Regina takes three strides with her long and graceful athlete's limbs, reaching Harry in no time. Louis is distracting himself from overhearing what they disagree on so fervently in a whispered argument but he's always been a nosy one. From climbing trees in neighbour's yards to sneaking through private property, it's by being evasive that he learned to survive. 

Everything falls silent and Louis looks up with pouted lips, all of that falling away like the way his heart sinks. Two bodies moulded together and he wasn't one of them; Harry's arm around Regina's waist and their lips too near not to be connected. Louis looks at his feet and suffers the emotional conflict of deciding what to do, ending with the choice of running out the door he came in through.

He abandons his promise to eat that night with Harry and that this is to be his castle too. He locks his room from the inside and turns off all the lights, falling to the ground beside the desk and letting the image of Harry kissing another burn through his skull like bubbling iron.

There's a subconscious nagging that tells him he's being immature and silly because Harry isn't his, as the man said so earlier. It's just also the recollection of all that's happened today and how it feels like they've lived a relationship's lifetime in one day. He _thought_ he could maybe make Harry happy just like he'd be content, but here Louis was being reminded that he was merely a pawn for the public eye.

Two hours later when Louis can hear an owl hooting outside his window, Louis gets a thunderous knocking on his door. He's gotten his abundance of sheets on the floor with him and a stack of pillows against the wall, bundled up with Snow near the window.

"Go away." He answers with bitterly, watching the clouds conceal the moon but never its shine.

"You didn't eat." Harry's voice came through the door and something unreadable was underlining his tone of voice. 

"I'm not hungry." Louis burrows further into his comfortable cocoon, curling his arm around his puppy. 

Harry's fist came down on the door by the way the structure rattled and Snow growled. "You need to eat, Louis."

Louis scoffed and buried his nose in Snow's silky soft fur. "I'll eat tomorrow."

"Fine." Harry muttered something else under his breath before continuing. "I want to see you eat before I leave tomorrow morning."

Louis didn't go with his nature and ask where Harry intended to go on the morning of their supposed wedding day. He bit the inside of his cheek and squeezed his eyes shut.

"I-" They flew right open again when Harry spoke again. "I have somewhere to be in the morning but I'll be back in time for the wedding."

Again, Louis kept chewing his cheek and refrained from saying anything. He stared at the pale wall until Harry's footsteps got softer and softer, eventually fading down the hallway.


	3. Chapter Three.

**_[A/N: Liking it? I apologise for the slowwwww pace but things will start to speed up soon. I also don't intend to carry this story on past my holiday period bc it's my chill mechanism. My spoiler for this story? Prepare for everything to go downhill before it gets better. - S xx]_ **

Louis never would have thought that waking up in a new place surrounded by foreign furnishings and people, could be so _warm_. In his room, the sun poked through the balcony doors and landed gracefully on his back so he wasn't under the mercy of the cold. His bed remained a bunch of sheets and pillows on the floor with Snow for a cuddle buddy, and Louis only regretted it because he woke up with a slightly sore back.

"Morning." He greeted his puppy that's eagerly anticipating his next move, wagging his pale stump of a tail whilst lounging across Louis' abdomen. 

This room is exactly the way he left it last night. His bags were dumped, unpacked with clothes strewn across the bare mattress beside them. He took a long time staring blankly at the ceiling while he contemplated his plans for today. There was nearly nothing to do in a new place like this, except explore.

With that resolution in mind, Louis yawned and forced himself awake. He got himself out of bed begrudgingly and stumbled into the bathroom where he could brush his teeth. There's a pack he brought along with him, all daisy pink, with a tube of toothpaste that's going to run out soon. After chancing his luck with the tempting shower, Louis strips before stepping under the hot spray.

His skin feels spotless after he's run a wash cloth over it, drenched in soap suds from his vanilla body gel. The cascading water is therapeutic to the fact that Louis is getting _married_ today and he's going to ignore that fact until he absolutely cannot any longer.

Freshly showered and still damp with residue from his bathing session, Louis hunts through his luggage for suitable clothing. He decides on his favourite white tennis shorts from a past life and one of his oldest golf shirts that swung over his hips from being larger than his actual size. He pulled socks over his feet to keep them toasty during his exploration of this mansion.

There's noise coming from outside in the back property that attracts Louis' attention. He hums something mindless while he pries the balcony doors apart and steps through them, allowing the cool morning breeze to wash over him. Some goosebumps rise on his arms that he covers with his hands and leans over the balcony's edge in intrigue.

Some horses were out there, mounted by men. Louis couldn't see who they were very well except the one in the middle on a white stallion. He pointedly ignored that particular individual while examining the rest, trying to deduce what they were doing. Whatever it was had to be informal because Harry was amongst them, talking to Alfie like a domineering idiot. Louis liked that description of him.

Eventually, Harry had given enough orders to Alfie and at last dismissed him so he could return to the handful of men meant to accompany him. But not before he felt a pair of eyes on his back and turned to see none other than his future spouse observing their event. Part of him wanted to approach Louis and explain it all to him, but the other parts were in a hurry.

Louis, in his terribly exposing attire, was ignoring Harry for everything he's worth. He never once glanced in the man's direction so they could at least share a courteous greeting. Harry's brow developed a frown as a result.

"Let's go." He kept looking Louis' way, waiting to see if anything had changed about the boy's attitude towards him. "Let's go!"

He was the last rider to leave but even when he's about to gallop through the bushes past his own territory, Louis doesn't so much as spare him a glimpse.

  
* * * * *  


"Good morning." Louis had found the kitchen all on his own and was eager for a hearty breakfast.

The Irish former drunkard gave his wife a perculiar look of familiarity. "G'mornin' lad. What can we do for ya?"

Louis pressed his palms into the kitchen island that's got cracking tile on it and a mess of chopping boards. He contemplates his breakfast favourites. "Is it okay if I make myself something to eat?"

The female in the kitchen is the one to answer him. "You don't have to do that, dear. Tell us what you want."

Louis shakes his head with a sugar sweet smile and dragged himself onto a plastic stool. "I don't want to bother you."

"It's no bother, dear boy." She came over to him and forced him to sit more comfortably than just kneeling on the stool's seat. "What would you like to have?"

"Um-" Louis chews his lip and laces his fingers together, watching Snow sit down beside him. "Surprise me."

The kitchen plunges into silence for a few moments when the female complement of this culinary couple moves to the stove. She picks her favourite steel frying pan and snatches up a few eggs from the ironic rooster shaped holder. Louis hooks his feet on the bisecting bar of the stool and fidgets with a discarded kitchen cloth.

"So do you like cooking here?" Louis obliquely asks, his elbows propped up on the counter.

"Sit down, Jack." The woman actively preparing Louis' breakfast ushers her husband to take a seat opposite to their guest. "Keep the boy company."

Louis giggles behind his closed fist and watched the light bounce off a perfectly polished utensil. "It's okay. You don't have to stop what you're doing."

"He does nothin' anyway." The woman waves off Louis' concern and returns to the stove. "He's Jack and I'm Rose. We've been cooking for this family since the old times."

"Oh okay." Louis nods comprehendingly and turns to the clean shaven, chubby man sitting across from him. 

Jack is wearing a chef's apron that ties at the back and has a select few food stains down the front. The breast pocket is filled with something that causes it to bulge, soon revealed as a handkerchief with which Jack wipes his forehead.

"So-" The aroma from the stove is inexplicably divine as Rose chops peppers and grates cheese for Louis' omellete. "-do you think you could teach me to cook?"

Jack has a previously discarded mug of black coffee that he pops in the microwave while grabbing a new cup for Louis. "You never learnt, son?"

"Nah." Louis accepts the cup with both hands, after which he fills it with coffee and cream. He's always considered himself a no sugar man. "My um- mother never let me learn."

"Oh." Rose didn't say anything more on that matter when Louis started picking at his sleeves. The entire territory heard the story of Harry separating Louis from his mother. "Well, we've been wanting to teach someone for too long now."

Louis brightened at the acceptance of his request. "That would be great. Thank you."

Jack sipped his coffee and made a sudden gagging noise. "Fuckin' disgusting."

Louis sipped his own steaming beverage while Jack prepared himself a fresh serving. He moved his arms from the table when Rose came to him with a plate laden with food. Besides the mouthwatering omellete, there was a pair of hashbrowns and some buttered toast.

"Woah." Louis' eyes were wide and awed. "I don't think I've ever eaten this much."

"Well-" Rose pinches Louis' bicep. "-we're getting some meat on your bones if it's the last thing we do."

For an hour into the morning, Louis eats every bit of his breakfast before pouring a cup of orange juice to get the mixture of tastes out of his mouth. He remains seated at the island, given that he has nowhere else to be. Jack turns out to be a jokester and Louis discovers that the wreckless, aged couple has a son that's married to one of Harry's old security detail men.

Their cleverly mastered ambiance is destroyed when the kitchen doors swing open and the owner of it all strolls in. Harry is behind Louis' back and the boy knows he's there just by the electric prickle of his exposed skin. He doesn't turn around no matter how much he wants to run away.

Although Rose feels protective of Louis, she can tell that the boy is capable of handling himself. She doesn't want Harry offending Louis more than he's already ruined some of this boy's personality.

"Do you need something, Master?" Louis hears Rose asking Harry, the man whose cologne scent is dangerously close to him. He sucks in a sharp breath and stares deeply at the chip on his mug.

Harry's face cannot be seen by Louis himself but the other two prior occupants of the room are able to see how inrelenting Harry is in staring at Louis. It's as if he's pleading with a deity to let the boy turn and acknowledge him.

"Yes." Harry's gravely edged voice felt like silk threads, only aimed at wrapping around bits of Louis' spine and tugging painfully. "I need him."

Something about that bold confession made Louis disheartened more than appreciative. He _knows_ Harry hadn't meant it that way. "Fine."

Louis hops off his stool and takes his mug along. He thanks the couple for breakfast with kind smiles and a reassuring wink. As nervous as he was, he could maintain himself around Harry. Not bothering to wait for the Master of this lavish estate, Louis barges out of the kitchen with Snow hot on his tail.

He spins around when they're in the foyer, ascertaining with a quick scan that they're alone. "What do you want?"

Harry is much closer than he was from Louis' vantage point on the balcony, and once again without a shirt. In ghastly black jeans that are ripepd at the knees, and leather boots to top off his horrendous style, Louis regards the man in cool irritation. He's not blind and will admit that Harry is _very attractive_ even with the blackened skin around his eyes and lips, but it terrified Louis that he thought such things.

Harry handles Louis' disrespectful tone very unlike anyone would expect him to. His judgemental gaze travels the length of Louis' body. "You've eaten, I take it."

Louis sips his coffee with a discreet eye roll. "Are you calling me fat?"

"Not yet." Harry turns sour to mirror Louis' attitude. He isn't going to be the least bit accomodating with a boy that's this stubborn. "I want you to be ready in an hour."

"Fine. I'm not changing my clothes." Louis turns on his heel and groans when Harry follows him up the stairs. "Leave me alone."

Harry stops walking and he's stuck in the middle of the red staircase while Louis stood at the peak. Terrifying red eyes connected with blue and Harry noted how Louis didn't shiver or frown at how unsightly they were. "You don't have to change."

"Thanks." Louis tapped his foot and Harry was blatantly staring at the boy's legs. "Is that all?"

"I sense you're upset about something." Harry's smirk grows infinitely as he begins ascending the staircase again.

That smirk dies a quick death when he sees Louis shaking his head, a little hurt surfacing to his beautiful blue eyes, while his feet carry his backward. "Don't act like you care, Harry."

It hardly registers for the man that Louis' said his name openly where anyone could have heard. He's left staring at the phantom of Louis' silhouette after the boy's run off. A door down the hallway opens and slams shut.

  
* * * * *  


Louis is stuck in his room for the next forty minutes, which is all that he's allowed to have before Alfie comes knocking. By then, his navy golf shirt has changed to a light white T-shirt because of a shameful coffee spill. He answers after ensuring that it is in fact Alfie and not Harry, readying a smile when he pulls open the door.

"Hey." He greets the jittery male bleakly, stepping away to let him enter. "I told Ha- your Master that I'm not changing my clothes."

"Master knows. It's fine." Alfie tries not to look at Louis for too long but the boy's presence was warm, glowing. It was very much unlike everyone else here. "Master needs you downstairs."

"For what?" Louis picks up Snow when the puppy yelps helplessly and scratches behind the infant dog's ear. 

"The um- The wedding." Alfie reminds him a little obviously. A smile even causes his mouth to twitch. 

"Right." Louis feels proud of himself for easing some of poor Alfie's stress for the day. He keeps Snow in his arms and walks over to the other male, pecking his cheek. "Thanks, Alfie."

Louis doesn't expect anything when he's reached the top of the stairs but he's a little flabberghasted to see _this many people here_. Alfie is right behind him but that is of no comfort when there are close to a hundred or so sets of eyes watching him. There's even an informal _altar_ with a raised platform and Harry is waiting for him like this is just another errand.

With close to no air in his lungs, Louis can feel an anxious lump in his throat. He can't breathe around him but knows that this has to be done today. Muttering annoyed yet censored curses under his wheezing breath, Louis descends the staircase in a feigned confidence. He sees Rose in the crowd and focuses on them, a small smile lighting up his features. 

A person in the audience would have witnessed the third party view of the wedding. They would have seen Louis in coincidentally all white, by far the fairest and purest of all Harry's consorts. This boy had a glow that held promise. He was nervous, anyone could tell, and he wasn't at all fond of the man he was about to marry.

They would have witnessed one of Harry's spies lean into their Master and whisper something in his ear. Harry's expression hardened and the jet black appearance of his gaze morphed into a dreadful threat. His fists clenched as did his jaw and he nodded stiffly. The third party would wonder what made a Master so aggravated.

Once upon the edge of the altar in just _socks_ \- almost everyone thought he was ridiculous - Louis didn't need help getting up on it. Every pair of eyes was harsh and one would sympathise that Louis was alone in this. He had no one to find comfort in when all these strangers were hateful, judging him like he's a filth from the street. Everyone wanted their kin married to such a powerful man and not a soul saw why he chose this particular individual.

Louis was bare up there. Everyone mapped out his flaws and prepared to gun him down for it, to send their beautiful youth to be Harry's refuge from such a bland creature. 

This third party could see Louis' fright when Harry yanked him closer by his waist. All his protests were ignored and Harry's arms wrapped around him, one sneaking up to press down between his shoulderblades. Something was whispered in Louis' ear that made him wince and whimper.

Harry didn't release his supposed better half for the entirety of the ceremony. It was truly remarkable to see white and black clash so seamlessly, yet not so much as blend and become one. The minister spoke and Harry consented, then the hall fell silent for Louis' answer. Sweat reached brows and Louis visible trembled if his hand on Harry's inked bicep was any indication.

Rose was twisting her husband's handkerchief so terribly that it tore and her palm was pale with lack of blood. She couldn't object and save Louis from this without risking nothing short of her life. Harry's warning before they summoned Louis was still ringing in each person's ear.

_"I will not tolerate objections. None. If I hear of one, there will be consequences."_

Louis' head was forced to rest against Harry's shoulder by how close the latter insisted they be. He seemed to shut everything and everyone out, even the man holding him. His mind went elsewhere before returning, calmer and resolute.

"I do."

  
* * * * *  


The ceremony was over and Louis was close to hallucinative. He was under Harry's arm because he had to be, was told to be obedient. Members of the public were present and he had to play the good spouse so Harry could inflict his tax law later today.

He felt numb yet savagely torn open where his side was pressed to Harry's, often letting his attention drift to staring at their contact whenever a conversation got boring. He imagined what it would feel like if they were married under conventional terms and Harry actually _cared for him._

Louis manned up and took deep breaths, trying not to faint from how lightheaded he felt or scream from how plastic everyone's congratulatory messages were. He was staring at Harry's tattooed skin contrasting his pale, plain white shirt. People saw it too but it didn't mean the same to them as it did to him.

Bravely, he raised his head to look at his _husband_. Harry was playing nice with one particularly annoying woman and her daughter, but Louis was occupied with staring at the man with whom he was wed. Harry's lips moved swiftly and with ease as he charmed the richest folk into doing as he pleased. Louis probably didn't even exist to him right now but he was still taken with what just happened between them.

He was caught staring at the perfect arch of Harry's jaw and his attractive dimples. Harry _happened_ to glance down at Louis, a little frown to indicate that he predicted his response to be annoyed at whatever Louis was doing. However, that soon melted into conflict when he saw something in the sapphire of Louis' eyes.

"I'll have Alfie see to this." Harry barely glanced away from Louis when he rudely dismissed his current guests.

The younger daughter was reluctant to leave, her hungry gaze set on Harry's unclothed abs being a sure fire indication. Harry, for the first time since anyone who knew him, didn't pay her any mind. He bestowed all his attention on Louis' trepidation and worry, winding the other free arm around Louis' back.

"What are you thinking about?" Harry asked, his voice coarse and curt. It was frustrated at the front but something lingered at the back.

Louis barely hears him from all the noise surrounding them. The clinking glasses and giggles. The chatter about poor Harry marrying someone like Louis. All these strangers using their food and wine to celebrate or disgrace a wedding. _His_ wedding.

"Answer me." Harry took Louis' chin between his forefinger and thumb, tilting back the boy's head. "What are you thinking about?"

Harry didn't expect for Louis to suddenly depend on him so drastically. He felt the boy's slight shudders but never more than that. Louis left Harry dumbfounded when he fitted himself against the man, under his chin. He kept Harry's hands on his back so they wouldn't let go, and breathed shakily. If all the comfort and security he had today would come from Harry then he sure is going to claim it.

Eyes from all corners of the room stopped to look at them. Silence befell the room in a heartbeat but to Louis, it was just as deafening. Maybe their assumptions were wrong because Harry never held anyone the way he held this boy. 

Louis had his hands over his ears as he blocked everything out, screwing his eyes shut. Harry's scent and protection enveloped him, kept him safe and steady. He tried to push his mind back to where he is meant to be, the territory he grew up in with apple trees and mud. This isn't him. The white gold ring - the last of its kind - didn't belong on his finger. 

The more he thought about it, the more upset he became and soon enough he was shivering uncontrollably. He tried to pull away from those thoughts but they had their claws in him and tears rolled down his cheeks until they landed on Harry's skin too. 

"Alright. Hush now." Harry was causing some kind of movement. He had picked Louis up and carried him all the way up the stairs, away from the prying strangers. 

Louis was heaving, gasping for air. He was hardly comfortable in Harry's reluctant embrace but he was better once the crowd disappeared from his fuzzy vision and they were suddenly on the floor together. Harry had sat down on the ground despite the act being beneath him; he had Louis in his lap and his arms wound so possessively around the boy.

"You can't cry, Louis." Harry took Louis' face in his hands, felt the heated skin, and wiped away those tears. "Not today."

Louis had a spark of something meant as a retort but he merely held onto Harry's wrist with a sniffle. Such bright blue eyes were dull with reddening rims and fear. But then Louis saw something that seemed to make everything better, even for a short while.

"You-" He swallowed with a quiver in his bottom lip and took Harry's left hand, unleashing the full power of his unique blue on the man. "You're wearing a ring."

It was true. There's a gold band on Harry's left ring finger that's perfect in its own merit. Louis can't remember if he was the one to put it on Harry but seeing it now made his chest lighter. He thought that Harry would wed him, and return to his old ways. He's hardly significant to keep a man like Harry so a ring is truly remarkable.

"I must." Harry watched Louis hold onto that finger which bore his wedding band, his whole hand wrapped around the appendage. 

"Why?" Louis asked quietly. He really just wanted to be in his room. "I thought-"

"Perhaps you need to rest." Harry brushed Louis' fringe away and sucked in a sharp breath. "I'll take you to your room."

 _Oh._ Louis understood now. "Oh. I get it."

Harry was made curious by this epiphany and stood, setting Louis on his feet but careful not to disrupt where their hands were connected. "What is it that you get?"

"You have to wear the ring around me." Louis answered, voice a little hoarse and his accent thick. "Don't worry. I understand."

"What are you talking about?" Harry unlocked Louis' room door and led him in, not flipping on the lights and taking in Louis' stripped bed. 

Louis instead peeled off his ankle socks and tossed them somewhere. He had a gathering of sheets by the window, forming a perfect little nest for himself. "You don't have to wear the ring for me, Harry. I know you......- I know this marriage isn't your ideal situation."

Harry felt something bubble in his chest and it was very much akin to anger. "If something weren't ideal for me, I wouldn't have done it."

"Still." Louis yawns and buries himself underneath his abundance of covers, failing to swath his small feet as well as they peeked out at the bottom. "I hope your tax thingy goes well."

"Louis." Harry sighed helplessly and looked at the ring on his finger then at Louis'. "Louis, wake up. I'm talking to you."

The already dishevelled younger male pulled himself up from his foetal position and looked at Harry impassively. "Go back to the party, Harry."

Louis knew as a certainty that Harry was just going to take off his ring and seek new conquests now that he's out of the way. At least by remaining here, Louis saved himself the cruelty of having to witness it.

"Do you want me to feel sorry for you, Louis?" Harry sneered brashly, stepping right up to where Louis lay many feet below him. 

"Yes!" Louis shouted loud enough to be audible through the thick walls of this loft. His skin was porcelain and his eyes were fierce enough to surprise Harry. "I want you to _realise_ what's happening here, Harry. We're married and we don't know each other, let alone love each other."

Harry has come to terms with the fact that Louis will or will not raise his voice when he deems it fit. He has resigned in the duty of reprimanding his new husband. However, it is easy for him to suddenly plummet towards a mood of anguish and anger.

" _Love?!_ Why the fuck do you keep bringing that up?" Harry scorns like the words related to affection disgust him. "I didn't marry you for love, Louis."

Louis didn't need to be told twice to believe it. This marriage is going to be void of affection and any hope of bettering their relationship. He didn't want to deal with this right now when all his body keeps doing is trying to shut down. Harry is still standing at the foot of his makeshift bed with more than just a troubled expression, rage and conflict too.

"Harry, if you can't see it from my view then maybe you should just go." Louis sighed in mental and physical exhaustion, plumping up his pillow gingerly.

It _annoyed_ Harry that he couldn't do exactly that and unlike everyone else, he couldn't intimidate Louis into bowing. This boy, like the ocean after which his eyes were coloured, was untamed and glorious. 

Louis squeezes his eyes shut tightly enough to feel a tear slip past through the wrinkled seam. He hears Harry's footsteps getting fainter and eventually the door shuts, the lock clicking into place smoothly. But then those footsteps start getting loud again and he jolts upright in surprise.

"Harry, what are you doing?" He asks the man that hasn't in fact left his bedroom, and whose stormy black orbs are boring into Louis' skull like heated iron. 

The Master of the house is yielding. He returns to Louis' impromptu bed set-up and doesn't have to remove his shirt, given that he never had one on. He unbuckles his jeans and unhooks the belt, making Louis' eyes widen in terror.

"We are not going to have sex." Harry informs him, something ludicrously trustworthy about such laboured shouldered and dark eyes.

"Then what are you taking your pants off for?" Louis asked plainly, a little puzzled.

Harry's lips arched into a perfected smirk, one dimple popping in his left cheek. "We are going to sleep together."

Louis gasped, horrified. "You just said-"

"Yes and by sleeping together I don't mean sex." Harry calmly promises him. 

Nonetheless, Louis sat up and clutched the sheets to his chests nervously. He tried to hide his little smile behind the fisted comforter that weighed heavy on his limbs. Harry draped his jeans over Louis' bare mattress and dumped his boots unceremoniously onto the floor somewhere. 

The time came for Harry to actually join Louis in his aesthetically uncomfortable bed. Louis shuffled a little to the side and Harry crawled in with fluid movements. He got enough free covers off the ground to cover himself although he hardly needed it and let his head fall to the side on his gifted pillow.

"What?" Harry frowns disapprovingly at Louis' lips being teased the smallest of smiles.

Louis shakes his head, lying on his back. He rolls onto his side and prods Harry's calf with his toe. Before his _husband_ can scorn or scowl at him, he leans over to whisper in Harry's ear. "Thank you."

None of Harry's party guests found him or Louis after their mysterious ascend of the staircase. Everyone looked but Alfie had the guards clear out their halls swiftly. Some young women and men were disappointed by the absence of the finest suitor.

"You can't sleep too?" Louis opened his eyes and found Harry staring at the ceiling unblinkingly.

Harry's eyes darted to the corner where he acknowledged Louis with a stiff nod. "Unfortunately."

Louis sniffled and wiggled a little closer. "Do you want to talk?"

"About what, Louis? Feelings? _Love?_ " Harry's eyes were narrowed and his tone was clipped. 

"Ugh." Louis groaned and flipped over so his back faced Harry instead. "You can be such a jerk, Harry."

"What?"

"Nothing." 

Louis curled up into a tiny ball on his side and dared his emotions not to well up in the form of tears. He didn't want to feel this miserable around Harry where he'd be mocked for stupidity. Regardless of his hopes, fate had other plans for him.

His shoulders shook in just the slightest way and he smothered his hiccuping sobs with a clenched fist. He tried to not think of anything rather than a happier time, but his mind was too full. It was run ragged with today and yesterday, his lack of nutrition. The worst thought to have is to be reminded that he is alone.

He lives in a beautiful home when his mother is far away. His husband is bound to neglect him and there's no one to turn to. Louis would, under any other circumstances, insist that he fight for Harry to be his. If there is nobody to seek comfort in then his mate for life has to be it. 

"Louis?"

Hearing his voice made him furiously wipe at his eyes and cover up his muffled noises with a fake yawn. "H-Huh?"

Noise of shuffling came from behind Louis and he just about angled his head to see what it was when Harry's body became aligned with his. He gasped and squirmed away but the arm banded around his waist was firm. Harry slotted himself in behind Louis and his legs against the boy's, warm breath fanning Louis' flushed skin.

The most significant thing about their contact is that Louis can still feel the cool gold of Harry's wedding band and chooses to hold onto it, if nothing else. "Would you like to talk about something in particular?"

Louis couldn't help but smile a little at Harry's proposition. He could tell at these sparse, fortunate moments that Harry had a layer of goo under his tough exterior. "Can I ask you questions?"

"No." Harry cleared his throat and drove chills down Louis' spine. His chest was pressed flush against Louis' back, curled around the boy to shield him. 

"Why not?" Louis thumbed over Harry's fingernail in thought. 

"Because this is my house and my word is carved in stone." Harry answers. 

Louis didn't contemplate more on the matter. He never considered this to be his home as well and doesn't see that changing anytime soon. 

Louis reaches for a tissue and wipes his reddening nose. "Have you started any schools in this territory?"

"I said no questions, Louis." Harry's brisk tone is not to be underestimated. He sounds angry at the same time that he sounds untriggered; Louis is still learning to make out the difference. "Go to sleep or I'm going to leave you here."

"You can't do that." Louis makes a point of not wiggling when a crotch meets his behind under the covers, tightening their cuddle position. "It's our wedding night."

That actually elicits a sound other than condescension or mockery from Harry. A genuine bout of laughter comes from Louis' companion by wedlock and it astounds him how such a display could appear so pure. It came from a blackened, steel heart and yet Louis smiled upon hearing it.

"A far less impressive feat than the party downstairs." Harry's bitter response both confuses and stings Louis a little. "I could just as well spend tonight with someone who will actually let me fuck them."

Louis exhaled shakily and pushed Harry's arm off him. He doesn't know why he keeps getting lured back into the snake's pit but it has to stop; his insolence has to end. Harry's arm doesn't budge one inch and Louis starts fussing silently to get it off, squirming and prying.

"What's the matter now?" Harry sounds irritated but by no right is he allowed to. 

"Let me go!" Louis finally gets freed when Harry suddenly releases him and he's smothered by his own nest. He immediately recoils so as to burrow into the sheets, hiding from the external world.

Harry sighs and watches Louis' _small_ form disappear under the covers. "Are you upset again?"

"No." Louis snapped, instantly going silent afterwards. Not even his breathing can be heard. 

"I'm leaving." Harry wakes up and Louis can still feel the man's body against his own.

He whispers to himself but Harry hears. "I know."

  
* * * * *  


Harry rejoined his guests downstairs but he was distracted and for the life of him, he didn't know why. The wealthiest folk of his settlement came to mingle with him, congratulate him or the younger ones to flirt. He discussed what their remaining resources will be used for and chastised the people who dare advise him.

There was a beautiful brunette at the party, a plus one to her grandmother. She was pleasant and had the reddest lips, well mannered with a humble smile. Her grandmother introduced her as Mia and if Harry weren't constantly glancing at the stairs, he'd have said that the name suited her. 

"Where's your new groom then?" Mia's grandmother asked him, a champagne flute in her hand. 

Harry's eyes snapped to her and he was nothing less than shocked to feel a wave of anger simmer in his chest. It's so brief and cunning that he hardly expresses it. "He isn't well."

"Poor thing." She sympathises on a synthetic level and nudges Mia. "This is my granddaughter."

Harry can't feel an ounce of lust or want for Mia or any girl for that matter at this party. He is accompanied everywhere by Alfie until the last guest leaves, drunk and loud. The town below his mansion is lit up with lamps and his effective generators, the moon hanging just above them.

"Alfie!" He shouts through the foyer on his way to the staircase. 

"Master?" A head popped out of the study Harry worked out of. 

Harry didn't look up from setting his undrunk champagne down and brushing through his hair. "I want to handle paperwork in the morning tomorrow. How do our fuel resources look?"

"Good for two years, Master." 

"Then food?" Harry wanted to go out. He wanted to see his own land and hunt something a heartbeat.

"Good for twice that, Master."

"I'm going hunting tomorrow." Harry says anyway. "I want to leave at dawn so make sure the horses are ready."

"Who will go with you, Master? How many horses?"

"Two horses." Harry's teeth sink into the cushion of his bottom lip. "My new groom will be accompanying me."


	4. Chapter Four.

**_[A/N: I worship George R. R. Martin. I am a loyal follower. - S xx]_ **

Louis feels like he's been sleeping too much in his new residence and decides to change that. At home he was sitting at the highest point of his neighbour's tree by now, waiting to welcome the sun. He wakes up just as he can hear the birds chirping their morning tune and heads to the bathroom for a refreshing shower.

Before he hops in under the spray of promising warm water, Louis has to remove the wedding ring on his finger. He stares at it for several empty minutes, marvelling at how something so exquisite could symbolise so much misery. 

In black shorts that allow more freeing movements and reach the middle of his thighs, Louis whistles for Snow to wake up too. He's pulling a vest over his head when the fluffy pup comes nudging his ankle.

"Come on." He towels through his hair and leaves it as it, eager to get outside in the meadow. 

Snow hates to be carried, Louis gathered over their short time together. He's grateful too because he isn't a fan of babying anything. The pup limps beside him through the hallways until they reach the staircase and Louis _has_ to hold him because stairs were tricky for the baby animal.

"You're so soft." Louis compliments the pup as he cuddles it, skipping down the steps to the foyer. "I think I'll hold you for a little bit more."

Snow growled but didn't bite which was sufficient consent for Louis. This mansion was plunged into deep silence and abandonment at such an early hour but Louis couldn't fathom why. He goes into the kitchen and stops short in the doorway.

"Ugh." He grumbles upon seeing Harry there already, fully dressed in an awful silk shirt and jeans. 

The Master of the house looks over his shoulder with a punishing glare that lessens to amused. "I was about to send Alfie up to wake you."

"Why?" Louis set Snow down and walked around the kitchen island for a glass of water. 

"We're going out." Harry stated as if he was reminding the boy rather than just informing him. He took some ingredients for coffee out of the fridge and slammed it shut.

"Be gentle, will you?" Louis pulled himself onto a stool and watched Harry's back as the man prepared his beverage.

"No." Harry cleared his throat and Louis realises that he has slightly hunched shoulders, the muscle built there being more defined than just his back. 

Louis crossed his legs while being nearly airborne and sipped from his tall glass, letting the ice water slide down his throat. He saw Harry turn around through his lashes and lean back against the counter. His skin simmered, feeling squirmy under the scrutiny of his _husband's_ stare.

"So-" Louis bravely looked up and witnessed something escape behind the red curtain of Harry's eyes. "-where will we be going?"

Harry let his eyes roam and suddenly they froze, narrowing to nearly pitch black when he saw something distasteful. "Where is your ring?"

"Oh." Louis looked down and saw that he hadn't put it on again. "I'll go get it before we leave, if you want."

"There's no time." Harry put his mug down and took a step closer to Louis, his body nearing Louis'. 

He forcefully took the boy's hand and ignored a tiny tingle that crept into his body. Louis was pouting the whole time and watched Harry remove the ring from his own finger. Light bounced off it and the sun had finally reached him, making his legs warm. 

Harry's blackened skin around his eyes were darker now in sunlight, his eyes more frightening. Louis couldn't look away while Harry slid the golden ring onto his finger, pausing to brush Louis' knuckles. This felt strange, something about this moment feeling different to their actual wedding. The man's fingertips and palms were calloused, hardened from a difficult life. Louis didn't shy away when Harry caught him staring, he was too enchanted for that.

"Wait." Louis stopped him when Harry tried to move away, a frown marring his expression. "Wait, Harry."

"What?" Came an unkind response laced with frustration. He stayed in Louis' vicinity nonetheless.

Louis felt his embarrassment creep onto his cheeks in the form of heat, turning the new ring over on his finger. "Don't you think....we should at least get along?"

Harry was by no mild manner, surprised at this question. He rubbed his face with his hands and sighed. "This is not important-"

"It is." Louis interrupted him without looking up, curling his fingers to protect the ring. "We're married, aren't we?"

"Yes and you are wearing my ring, living in my house. I don't see where I haven't provided for you."

"Harry." Louis unleashed the full intensity of his porcelain baby blue eyes, crystals that doesn't exist on anything that isn't angelic. They were sad, conflicted. Pained. "Please."

"I don't understand you, Louis!" Harry shouts, pulling on his own hair and clenching his jaw. He opened his mouth again and blood was on his tongue. "You raise your voice at me, you _never fucking listen_. What do you want?!"

Louis saw Snow duck behind some random pots that are piled on the floor and bowed his head. He set his feet down on the steel bar midway on the stool and looked at Harry the way he did when the man carried him away from yesterday's party. 

He reached out and Harry caught his wrist, preventing him from getting any closer. Louis shook his head and pinned Harry's gaze just with how nervous the was. His wrist stayed captive but Louis managed to _graze_ Harry's cheek before the other was pushed away.

Harry's face was inches from his, his stoney expression and eyes with a gruesome history stayed prisoner to Louis. The boy was soft and pure in everything he did. He brought Harry closer by drawing his own arms back and leading Harry into the space between his knees.

They've been physically close before. At the wedding, afterwards when they both sat on the floor. But this was different. Louis was weaker than Harry, more afraid and yet Harry was his prisoner. It felt like two hearts beat so frantically in such a small space that one might overpower the other, shatter it. 

Any born in the new generation had many insecurities. Harry's bloody lips spoke of his physical flaw where his gums always bled and he had no sense of taste. He continually tilted his head the closer their faces became, something in him craved the touch Louis had. He let the breath laced with metal fan over Louis' lips and gauged the boy's nonchalant response.

"You know-" Louis looked up into Harry's eyes, something not any lover of Harry's liked to do. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "-I'd kiss you whenever I wanted."

Harry smothered a noise that leapt up his throat and seized the moment as it was his. He gripped Louis' knees and felt such supply skin, such electricity that finally met his charge. Those thighs were hooked over his hips and Harry felt starved, thumbs brushing back and forth over Louis' flesh. He's addicted to it already.

"You will sleep with me tonight." Harry stated with creases on his brow and a tightening grip on Louis' thighs. 

"I won't." Louis smiled and bumped Harry's nose, clasping either side of Harry's face. 

"You will. I want you." Harry growled, a man possessed. "I will have you."

"Harry." Louis touched where Harry held him and gasped suddenly when he was lifted off the ground, the stool kicked violently so Harry could hold him independantly. "Harry, no."

"Hush." Harry nudged Louis' jaw and sunk his teeth into the boy's pulse. It didn't break skin and he didn't do more than pray for a deity to allow him to taste this boy. "Mine."

"You didn't want me yesterday." Louis pointed out breathlessly. He's never experienced anything as erotic as Harry when he's driven mad. 

Harry's chest rumbled beneath Louis' fingertips and his head snapped up when the door swung open. "Get out!"

Whoever it was left in a hurry and Louis felt like he was dragged back to reality. "Harry, let me go."

Something also dawned on Harry. He released Louis so suddenly that the boy almost fell over and he forced himself away with much restraint. Eyes wild and lips stained red, Harry gripped the counter until his knuckles turned white. 

"Harry-"

"You are moving into my room." Harry stated, allowing no room for argument as he brushed his hair back and raised his head. "Alfie will do it while we are out."

"I'm not sleeping with you, Harry." Louis didn't back up any when Harry took one, two steps and they could feel electricity radiating off one another. 

Harry's eyes were unreadable. "I will have the mattress and sheets changed. I don't want to be with you where I've been with others."

"Harry." Louis spoke sternly but even his resolve was wavering. 

"Not sex, Louis." Harry sucked a sharp breath in and caught the side of Louis' face, bringing their lips close. "I want a kiss."

Louis' lips twitched into a suppressed smirk. "My kisses don't come cheap, Harry."

"Oh I'm counting on that, _macushla_." 

"What does that mean?" Louis enquired, holding onto Harry's wrist. "Harry?"

The man merely met Louis' temple with the corner of his mouth and stepped back, a smile playing on his lips. Louis hasn't seen Harry smile before and he's as sure as there is blood in his veins that nobody else has either.

"Harry." Louis made a complaining sound when his husband swiped his coffee off the counter and drank. "You're not going to tell me?"

Instead of answering, Harry finished his breakfast beverage and put his mug in the sink. He didn't want to leave the kitchen yet. 

"We both haven't eaten." Louis looks out the window, planting his feet on the counter across from him. "Do you think we could have a picnic?"

Harry watched Louis instead of whatever was out the window. "I don't want to be out for too long. I have business to take care of."

"Oh yes." Louis' eyes suddenly grew wide at something he saw and reached for Harry, tugging him closer by his sleeve. "Come look."

"What is it?" Harry thought it might be something gruesome he needs to take care of but once he was there again, beside Louis, he saw something very different.

A bird's nest sat on the ledge of their kitchen window and Louis made him witness the adult dove feed its babies. Harry had looked away at some point to question Louis' motives but the boy was so enthralled that he couldn't disturb that. Instead, he watched Louis and the golden band on his finger.

"Come, _macushla_." Harry caught Louis' hips and hoisted him off the stool. "You can't wear this if we're going out."

"Are we going out so you can tell me what that means?" Louis' hand was in Harry's and he was being led out of the kitchen. He whistled for Snow to follow. 

Harry hardly glanced at the Irish couple who waited by the door with more than smug expressions. He towed Louis towards the stairs and got halted on purpose for Louis to pick up Snow.

"Where did you find that creature?" Harry asked impolitely, looking at the harmless Snow with innate disgust.

"Don't remember but-" Louis cuddles Snow to his chest with both arms and scratches behind his ear. "-he's adorable."

"You can keep him." Harry clears his throat and looks over Louis' head for a moment. 

"I wasn't asking permission." Louis scoffs and starts up the staircase himself, two steps ahead when Harry grabs his hand. He turns to look at the man, riveting energies racing up his veins. "What?"

Alfie comes out from the study Harry uses at that moment with an urgent letter in his hand, flailing it about. Harry closes his mouth but doesn't release Louis to receive the servant.

"Yes?" He ignores entirely how rudely Alfie's stare is fixated upon Louis' hand and his. 

"Master, an important letter from outsiders arrived this morning." Alfie comes to a halt at the opposite pillar. 

"They're all outsiders, Alfie. Which settlement?" Harry grits.

Alfie doesn't have to look again at the letter to be startled. Louis takes a step down and flexes his fingers between Harry's. He doesn't know if he's allowed to say anything in these matters so he stays quiet, making faces at Snow.

"The Don'air settlement, Master." Alfie's response is shaky and enough to make Harry tense. Louis wishes they were close enough that he could hug the man to make him relax. "It's important, Master."

Harry nods and snatches the letter from Alfie before dismissing him. It's indecipherable scrawl across yellow paper with a signature at the bottom. Louis doesn't try to read any of it because he doubts politics will ever become an interest of his.

He reads it quickly before spontaneously tugging Louis down to his level. "Perhaps we won't be going out this morning."

"Oh?" Louis puts Snow down and straightens his shirt that managed to ride up. "What's wrong?"

Harry's hardened expression only gets worse the more he thinks about what bothers him. He reads the letter again and curses repetitively. "I have to meet with a few of my advisors."

"Okay." Louis tried not to be disappointed. He and Harry got off to such a great start this morning. 

"You are going to be one of those advisors." Harry reads something in Louis' eyes. "Come, _macushla_."

"Oh for-" Louis is drawn into the curve of Harry's arm and mumbles unintelligably. He looks up at his husband. "I'm awful at giving advice."

"Well then you can eat your breakfast while I handle things." Harry shoves the door open to his study and escorts Louis into it.

The giant oak table is unoccupied and Harry watches Louis hold the door open for Snow. His husband's new pet trots into his study with impressive pride and Louis look at the seat next to Harry's intimidating one. 

"I have three advisors." Harry stops Louis from occupying an empty chair to his left. His smirk becomes something devilish and surprisingly charming. "Your seat is on my lap."

Louis rolls his eyes and pushes the chair back, crossing his arms over his chest. "What makes you think I want to sit on your lap?"

Harry smirked across the short distance separating them and spread his legs. "You'll have to, regardless of whether you want to."

"I can just go back upstairs." Louis points to the ceiling. "Meetings are boring, Harry."

"I agree but they're mandatory." Harry pats his knee. "Now come here, Louis."

"You're ridiculous." Louis comments as he succumbs. 

He grants no mercy when he hoists himself onto Harry's lap, folding his legs under the table. The man is amused by Louis' efforts to get comfortable and tries very hard with clenched fists to ignore the lead blood soaring through his system. He holds onto Louis' hips and draws him back so they're back to chest, not at all familiar with the way Louis gasps.

"You're so soft, _macushla_." Harry flattens his hand over Louis' tummy and looks at the boy speculatively when the latter tilts his head to the side. "So soft."

With a hum, Louis leans all the way back to take advantage of his new throne. He places his hand over Harry's and looks at his husband at an awkward angle. 

"Am I supposed to be offended?" Louis brings his knees up to his chest and rests them against the table's edge. 

"If you choose to be." Harry felt comfortable with this boy. 

He felt like he was justified in wrapping his arms around Louis' shoulders and get closer to a smile. "How charming."

Harry saw Louis' lips so close to his own and wanted to connect them. He didn't however and just watched Louis' eyes look around the room at everything. This boy was foreign to him, everything about a soul so kindred and sweet. Harry felt like a demon that held an angel captive.

Louis looked at him differently, is the thing. Harry expected his betrothed to be just like all the rest who looked at every body part below his neck. His face was displeasing and his personality wasn't worth any amount of affection. Yet somehow, Louis could be this close to him without cringing. 

"Hey Harry?" Louis yawned into his fist and set his feet on Harry's knees while keeping his own legs together. "What was in that letter?"

"A settlement similar to our size wants to merge with us." Harry simply states, curling his fingers against Louis' belly. 

"How?" Louis is far too fascinated with Harry's wedding ring that's weighing heavy on his finger.

"Marriage, of course." Harry coughs dryly and nothing about his mood changes. He's just as robotic and disinterested as before.

Louis feels something tighten in his abdomen and looks at Harry in dumb astonishment. "Marry who?"

"Louis." Harry frowns at his husband. "You cannot be that ignorant."

"You can't marry someone else when you're already married." Louis sits up so suddenly that his head feels heavy and his chest is tightening.

Harry shrugs and Louis feels like each shoulder symbolised a dagger plunging into his lungs. "Who is there to say I can't?"

"Well-" Louis looks down at his finger and that glimmer off a gold band that reflected his feelings since this morning has died. He felt sick. "What about me?"

Harry was not his. The man wed him and held him for the first time this morning but they weren't each others. Louis never imagined he'd feel this pitiful or miserable upon hearing it. He thought they could take time and welcome this relationship, nurture it better. 

"You will get an equal amount of attention." Harry says it and it's like a bomb going off.

Louis pries the ring off his finger at the same time that he climbs off Harry's lap. He hurls the item of jewellery at his maddening husband with a fresh breed of hurt. "Don't _ever_ touch me again."

"Louis!" Harry stood when the boy threatened to leave, watching him hurry towards the door. "Alfie, lock the door!"

Just as Louis touches the handle, the lock clicks from outside and no amount of furious jerks will release the catch. Louis feels all his frustration and anxiety start to sting the underside of his skin, the tips of his fingers and toes. He grips the doorhandle tightly in both hands and closes his eyes, wincing when a heavy footing starts getting louder. 

His back stops feeling cold when Harry is close enough, his body warmth radiating off him. "Turn around."

"No." Louis fires back, glowering at the brass door handle. He can feel Harry's energy and parts his lips to taste the man's cologne. "You're the worst man I ever met."

"Hmm." Harry hums and captures Louis' hips, fending off the boy's resistance by letting his arms snake all the way around. He closes his eyes in the boy's neck and his chest rumbles appreciatively. "You smell so sweet. I am going to have _fun_ with you."

Louis dug his nails into Harry's forearm and listened to him hiss mockingly. "Why did you marry me if you were just going to marry someone else?"

"I'm not going to marry anyone else, _macushla_. Just you is who I will let treat me this way."

"You said-"

"I _said_ -" Harry cuts him off. "-that the offer for their merger is marriage. You didn't ask whether I'd accept."

"Jerk!" Louis exclaimed but he was more relaxed in Harry's grip again. "You could have told me!"

"Why should I when you're this entertaining?" Harry found Louis' left hand and slipped on the ring for him. "Come. Let's go back."

Louis sighed and felt his breath come out as terribly shakey. He closed his eyes and held Harry's wrists. "Wait."

Harry didn't even ask. He just stood there with Louis until he got some sign that the boy was okay. Louis' hand slid down to his and clasped it firmly, a type of possessiveness that made Harry smug. Nonetheless, it wasn't as difficult getting Louis onto his lap this time.

"Can I go to bed please?" Louis yawns for emphasis that he is in fact hungry and tired. 

"No." Harry straightened his back and flattened his shirt. He was immune to many things but Louis' pout wasn't one of them. "No, Louis."

"But meetings are boring." Louis' shoulders slumped and he woke up again to stroll aimlessly to the window. "I promise to let you tell me what happens."

Harry watched Louis like a hawk, unblinking and heated. "You will go to my room if you leave."

"But what if I don't like your bed?" Louis proposes hautily, raising his eyebrow. He trailed his fingertips across the table's surface as he grew closer to his husband. "It could be too hard for me."

Harry bit his lip and took Louis' hand in his, tugging the boy down to his level. "I'll have it changed over and over until you're satisfied."

"How sweet." Louis giggled and liberated his hand again. He hears the door open. "Bye, Harry."

He doesn't leave without being unmerciful. Louis leans in and kisses Harry's cheek when the man doesn't suspect anything at all, a light brush of soft lips. He runs off. Harry wakes up from his seat so suddenly that the chair drags across the wooden flooring. He tries to follow Louis by jumping off the platform and can't get his eyes off Louis' retreating silhouette.

It stops when Louis disappears behind the bodies of his advisors and he can't push past them. He decides not to wipe his cheek and let the skin remain so alight with something affectionate.

  
* * * * *  


Louis looks over his shoulder to Harry's office and smiles when he sees his husband still staring after him. He knows Harry has business to take care of but it was tempting to continue to distract the man from his work. His advisors were piling into Harry's office but Louis felt like all the man could see was him.

As he ascends the staircase, Louis smiles to himself and keeps his head lowered to study the ring on his finger. He chews the inside of his cheek and licks over his lips that had _once_ only grazed Harry's skin. It felt so intimate for such a small act of loyalty. Louis didn't think two days ago or even on their wedding day, that they could make this much progress.

Louis also doesn't count on being stopped at the top of the staircase by a face he didn't think he'd see again. His mood transpires to foul and a little unnerved, his arms winding around his middle. 

"Regina?" He recognises her to be the woman who made him run away, made him seek solace elsewhere.

She was coming toward him from down the hallway and hadn't seen him until he spoke. Her leggy figure with slender hips and the right feminine curves seemed to be intact even in their post apocalyptic circumstances. Regina had glowing brown eyes that held something mirthy and sinister as she took in Louis' state.

"Louis." She nodded stiffly, pausing in her step. "How are you today, darling?"

"Don't patronise me." Louis rolled his eyes and scoffed. 

"Why would you stop me then?" Regina raised her perfect eyebrow and drummed her slim fingers on her own arm. "To prove something with that ring of yours?"

Louis didn't think about why he said her name at all. He could have saved himself the trouble of this conversation. "I stopped you to ask why you're still here."

"I was just leaving." She says casually and walked past him, a smirk teasing her lips. 

Regina started down the staircase and Louis followed her with his eyes long enough to see Harry walk out of his study. The man was obviously drawn out by the appearance of this woman interacting with Louis.

Harry grabbed Regina's arm at the last step and said something to her in a whispered, harsh tone. He was marvellously upset by the bulging of the vein in his neck and how her skin was paling where he held her. Louis didn't know how he felt about Harry's attitude towards violence like this. He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and walked away stealthily.

"Why are you here?" Harry asked in growing aggravation. 

"Oh relax." Regina tried not to respond to the numbing sensation sparked in her arm. "I wasn't here for you."

"That better be true." Harry released her with a shove, ignoring her stumble. "I don't want to see you again. Get out."

"Father wants to see you tonight." She maintains her pride by straightening up and stepping closer, her fragrance somewhat nauseating. "At dinner."

"No." Harry is seething as he snaps his fingers and gets two guards. "Take her away. If I see her near this house again, her head won't be the one I carve out."

Alfie was not two steps behind Harry, as he is at all times. He awaits instruction while scribbling furiously across a page. 

"Tell my advisors I will be there soon." Harry barks an order while seeing to it that Regina is tossed off his property, leaping up the steps two at a time. 

Louis' room is adjacent to his and Harry hardly has the patience to knock, but he does. He listens attentively until a faint reply allows him to enter and he does. The room he granted to Louis is already a mess and Harry walks through it all onto the balcony, somehow aware that Louis was out there.

His sixth sense was correct because Louis is sat on the balcony railing, astride the porcelain palisade. He manages to be the most exquisite thing out here in this scenery.

"Hi." Louis greets softly. He has both wedding rings set out on the marble surface before him. 

Harry steps out into the frigid air and stops beside Louis. He scans over the meadow and trees out of impulse, a habit to make sure the area was safe. "What did she say to you?"

"Nothing important." Louis chirps with a smile. He lifts his gaze and nudges Harry's arm with his elbow. "Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting?"

"Yes." Harry let's his vision fall on the rings. "What are you doing with them?"

"Don't know. I'm just thinking." Louis swipes them off the railing and pats the cold marble. "Come sit."

Harry obliges with a quizzical glance and Louis sidles up next to him. He hardly moves away more than to accommodate the boy because Louis is sweet and soft. Harry knows what to appreciate. 

"Give me your hand." Louis holds out his palm and waits impatiently. He blows his fringe out of his eyes when Harry hesitates. "I won't hurt you."

Harry laughs but it's silent and dead. Louis is proud of himself for eliciting such a pleasant sound from this side of a man he's known for no time at all.

With Harry's hand in his, Louis eases the appropriate golden band onto his finger and brings his lips to the man's cheek. No protests come his way except Harry's shoulders tensing, his body going rigid. Louis huffs out a small giggle and kisses Harry's cheek.

"I do."

  
* * * * *  


Louis hates packing _especially_ if it's just to move next door. He knows Harry is handling some awfully boring meeeting downstairs. There was instruction sent via Alfie to have his things set up in Harry's room before the man was done working. Louis wanted to stubbornly remain in his room but he thought better of it.

His husband's room was dark and easily depressing. The curtains were closed over panoramic windows that looks over the glorious meadow. Louis peeks through one of them and sees that Harry's window is bordered with iron shutters. They're meant to lock and seal to protect the room from whatever external threat there was.

Louis sighed out of lingering boredom and studied the innards of the room. Harry wasn't joking about having his bed changed for one that's brand new, and his sheets swapped. Louis thought it was ultra soft and fell into it without bothering to unpack. He rolled himself into a ball and stayed there, hidden under the covers. Harry's bed is gigantic and circular, laden with fresh linen and half a dozen pillows. The floors are covered with plush black carpeting and Harry has two drawers backed up against a far wall, a full length mirror between them. 

The closet was neatly organised and surprisingly bland. All Harry's clothing was either black, silver or white. Louis turned his nose up at such little choice. He dumped his own bags in the closet and kicked his shoes off to one corner. 

A knock on the door called to Louis' attention and the boy hummed on his way to answer it. Alfie stood on the other side, shaky as always. "Hey, Alfie."

The twitchy individual barely smiled before going back to scribbling on his sheet of paper. "Master summoned you."

"Summoned me?" Louis raised his eyebrow at the selection of word and stepped outside the room, sealing the door behind him. "What for?"

"Master's meeting is almost over." Alfie walks one step behind Louis on their way down to Harry's study. "He has ordered breakfast for you."

"Ah." Louis laces his fingers together at his front and practically jogs down the steps. "Any idea what he ordered?"

"No, Sir." Alfie shakes his head profusely. 

Louis pats his shoulder comfortingly. "I told you to call me Louis, Alfie. I won't tolerate anything else."

Before the poor man can stutter an appropriate response, Louis has kissed his cheek and is moving off towards Harry's office. He knocks lightly on the door, only to have it yanked out from under his knuckles and for several of Harry's advisors to walk out. Louis steps back to allow them to pass, smiling pleasantly when they all regard him with caution.

He stepped into Harry's study and shuts the door softly, amused by his husband's awfully busy state. Harry has a frown on his brow and is hunched over to read documents that have been piled before him. Louis strolls carefully across the carpet and looks over Harry's shoulder. He feels a little sympathetic.

"If you're going to be here, I suggest you find a seat." Harry spoke up gruffly from his papers and signed something hastily.

Louis laughed and picked Harry's heavy arm off the table to allow himself space. The man was visibly miffed by such an action but didn't do anything beyond groaning when Louis slid onto his lap. His husband got comfortable and put that arm down again, winking when Harry's gaze narrowed on him.

"You summoned me." Louis teased. "Don't get snippy."

Harry sighed and went back to his papers, but Louis didn't feel rejected. A firm strength existed in the steely arm wrapped around him, the hand clasping his hip. Louis didn't bother Harry while the man finished reading, initialing and dismissing.

"Alfie!" Harry's thunderous echo was ringing all through the mansion. Louis flinched from it.

"Master?" The familiar head popped around the opening of the door. 

"Take these." Harry slid his papers across the table. "Bring the food."

Louis watched him behave like a brute and pouted to himself. He wasn't shoved off Harry's lap, if anything he was gripped punishingly tight. Harry let the door shut and his head fell back against the chair, grumbling something to himself. 

The food arrived and Harry swore before hurling his knife across the room. Louis looked up from from his English muffin and a little bit of his heart sank through the ground. Harry's fork was bloody, staining the white of his eggs with the crimsom liquid that came from the man's bleeding mouth.

"Hey." Louis himself was upset for his husband and turned around his lap, framing Harry's face. "Hey, look at me."

Harry tried pushing Louis away but the boy wasn't having any of that. Louis asserted himself and lightly scratched Harry's neck where his pulse was. He put his forehead on Harry's and locked his arms around the man's neck. Irritable as Harry may be, he still fists his palms at Louis' hips and tries his best to look elsewhere. 

"Alfie!" Louis shouts this time and Harry's head snaps in his direction, awed by this creature. He watches in piqued interest as Louis talks to his servant. "Bring Master his gauze please and bring me a glass of the strongest alcohol the kitchen has. Two glasses."

Alfie nods and leaves them alone again. Harry's eyes are questioning how Louis knows about his gauze at all.

"I was in your room." Louis shrugs harmlessly. "Do they hurt?"

"No." Harry says through a clenched jaw and Louis sees his teeth stained red, indicating that it definitely does. 

Louis gets the glass of Brandy and plastic gauze from Alfie before thanking him. He gives Harry the first glass of golden ale to garge with and spit out, accepting no argument.

"Hush." Louis taps his husband's lips and carefully slips Harry's retainer-like aid into his mouth. "I have to take care of you even if you don't want it."

Harry watches Louis. He can't _stop_ watching Louis like he's the sun that's been kept from him for so long. This beautiful creature on his lap is far from disgusted with helping him in this way, loyal and humble all at the same time. 

His gauze was a little uncomfortable in the way that it sat in his mouth. It was meant to hold his teeth steady and protect his swollen gums from anything. He hated wearing them but it was a major relief. Louis made him garge with the second glass of brandy to cleanse the aid and his mouth one last time.

"Feel better?" His lovely little companion chirped. 

Harry had to chance humiliation and wrap his arms around Louis. He'll never find anyone who is willing to share in everything, both wealth and ailment. "I suppose."

Louis kissed his cheek and grinned. "You're welcome."

They shared the remainder of Louis' breakfast and Harry couldn't stop staring at the boy in his lap. He doubts he's blinked in the time it took for Louis wiggle and get comfortable, for his legs to be crossed and his shoulders slouched. Louis only lifted his arms so Harry's could slide below them, braced around his middle.

"So why were you so stressed earlier?" Louis makes conversation, appearing to be so small in Harry's arms. 

Harry decides that he has to speak. He clears his throat and relishes in the burn of remaining brandy. "An outside settlement wanted to merge with us, I told you this."

"But you're not gonna." Louis tilted his head back and met Harry's eye with a smirk. "I still don't get why you were upset."

"They're very insistent." Harry admits. "They wanted to fight."

"Fight? Fight who?" 

"Us of course." Harry was amused by Louis' surprised. "This happens more often than you'd think."

"Really? We aren't in the twelfth century." Louis sits up straight and Harry's hands slide down his back. "Did you tell them that?"

"Hmm." Harry stuns Louis with his behaviour, leaning in to nuzzle the boy's neck. His warm breath over Louis' skin and he rubs the boy's sides, large hands tilting his body accordingly. "I told them that we had no time for games."

"What-" Louis gasped when his hips were gripped Hellishly tight and Harry nibbled on the skin below his ear. His breath hitches in a whimper. "What are you doing?"

Harry was too taken with the essence of his husband and stood them both up, knocking over plates and cutlery to dump Louis onto the table. He flattened the immobile other with his body, pinning him down with all the possession and strength he could muster. Louis' legs were parted for him, his head tossed back.

"I want you." Harry sounded like he was begging, nailing Louis' wrists to the table above their heads. His dark bloody eyes seared through Louis'. "I want you always."

Louis arched his back but not for temptation, rather for freedom. "No, Harry."

"No?" Harry buried his visage in Louis' neck and breathed in deep. He felt Louis' struggle like it was his own, wanting one another but too afraid to take it. "You can't say no. Not to me."

"You want my body." Louis corrects breathlessly, pushing at Harry's shoulders but simultaneously locking his legs around him. "You don't want _me_."

Harry's want was raving mad and driving him to be the same. Louis made him crave when everyone else made him want. "For now, yes."

"I can't let that happen." Louis dug his nails into Harry's shoulderblades and whined. "We have to do this properly, Harry."

He got his husband to surrender. Harry let Louis pick himself up on his elbows but their faces were a hair's breath apart, breath mingling and skin prickling. Louis caught the back of Harry's neck and listened to the man's deep growl. 

"If you want me-" Louis spoke lowly in a husk. "-you have to earn me."

Harry frowned in confusion. "What is the quickest way?"

Louis pressed his lips to Harry's forehead. "We'll have a date. Tonight at eight."

"Fine." Harry swept Louis off the table and hoisted him higher against his body, holding onto the boy's thighs. "What do you propose for this date?"

"It's going to be a surprise." Louis framed Harry's jaw in one hand and brushed his hollow cheek with the other. "Just dress fancily and meet me in the kitchen at eight."

"Fine." Harry grunted and stepped around the mess of dishes. "Do I get to fuck you-"

"Oh dear God, _no_." Louis placed his palm over Harry's rude lips. "That's going to take many dates."

"Such a little minx you are." Harry carries Louis out of his study and disregards the housekeeper, kitchen staff, Alfie and all other servants who blatantly stare at them. "I don't suppose I'd do this for anyone else."

"I _am_ your husband." Louis grins brightly enough for the both of them. "Now is the appropriate time to woo me. You look exhausted, Harry."

"What?" Harry starts walking up the stairs and steals a moment to blindly hide his face in Louis' neck. 

"You need to sleep." Louis says, looking around for anything that could trip them. "Will you?"

"You're very energetic, _macushla_."

Harry gets directed to _their_ room now and Louis peels off his socks one at a time. The man crawls into bed after shedding his shirt and Louis brings the covers up with him. There's no better way to sleep than Louis tucked under Harry's chin in a way that's foreign and comforting. Harry felt Louis turn over and squash a pillow to his chest.

"Harry?" A soft voice reached his ears when Harry was a step way from slumber. 

He grunted.

Louis shifted again and this time it was to look at Harry's irritated but tired expression. His eyes were closed and his brow was furrowed. He thought better of saying anything else, and wished Harry a good sleep by kissing his temple. Louis himself fell asleep to the hands on his back turning into curled fists, intrusive and possessive.


	5. Chapter Five.

**_[A/N: I'm ecstatic that so many of you guys love this story. It's so much fun to write haha and it's wonderful to know so many lovely readers appreciate it as well. - S xx]_ **

Louis woke up feeling better than he has in a week. He yawns and stays put, questioning just how tightly Harry intends to hold him in his slumber. The man's arms were constituents of a cage wrapped all the way around Louis, restricting him. His overwhelming scent of something earthy and metallic filled Louis' senses, numbing them with the residue of bourbon.

Harry slept and appeared more innocent than anything Louis has ever seen. The religious frown of his brow died and Harry's plump lips were parted a little bit. He breathed in soft snores and sometimes his nose twitched like he felt a dust speck on it. Louis blinked away his sleepy vision and stretched out his body, nearing his visage to Harry's.

He kissed the skin between Harry's eyebrows. His husband was a tyrant at times and Louis remembers hating him so vividly, a tiny part of him was still greatly reserved about Harry's behaviour. Nonetheless, he has to warm up to Harry. 

Louis couldn't escape this embrace if he tried and so settled in for some time spent staring at the ceiling, when Harry abruptly shoved him. The air from his lungs rushed out in a strangled cough and Louis landed on the ground with a heavy thud, his back screeching with the horror of bruises and a groan leaving his lips.

"Damn it." He stood up gingerly and checked to ensure that no part of him was bleeding, except maybe the burst in his heart from receiving such a fright. "Harry?"

He felt his heart slowing to a healthy pace while he crept up to the edge of the bed again. Harry had kicked away the sheets and pillows, his face turned into the mattress. He was writhing, shivering as he tore through the linen with his nails. Louis was shocked to see Harry this way, his arms twitching and his skin glistening with sweat from a violent dream.

"Harry!" He hadn't dealt with nightmares before but if there is any solution, it would be to wake Harry up. 

Louis peeled Harry's iron arm off the bed and slid under it, feeling it curl both in rejection and possession. Harry's body was shuddering drastically, his fingers scratching Louis' hip as he panted raggedly. Louis caught the man's face in his hands and moved it away, guarding it from colliding with the wall.

"Harry." He brought his lips to Harry's ear, hand cradling the top of Harry's head and his nape. "Listen to me. Hear me. Wake up. It's just a dream. Nothing is real."

Harry's state didn't better or worsen. He continued to mercilessly squeeze Louis' hips until the boy felt crushed, his insides twisting in an airless environment. Louis winced and swallowed his whimper, falling onto his back when Harry rolled over.

His husband was being tormented by something Louis couldn't comprehend. Harry was trying to tear his body away from Louis, his back arching and his knuckles cracking painfully. Louis flinched at the snap of each muscle, sharing in some of the hurt.

"Hey." Louis' teeth latched onto Harry's earlobe and he grounded the man with his legs around Harry's waist. He pleaded. "Wake up. Enough, Harry. It's just me."

When everything suddenly stopped, Louis felt Harry's entire weight fall onto him. He gasped and loosened his arms, his legs falling to the sides. Harry's eyelashes tickled his neck where they fluttered to life, his sticky skin against Louis'

"Get out." He rasped, cold and hurtful.

Louis heard the words but Harry wasn't letting him move. He was afraid because Harry seemed to have demons that controlled him. That's more terrifying than any apocalypse. Instead of obeying, Louis angled his head and gently kissed Harry's cheek. 

Harry's vibrating chest made a pained sound. He kicked his legs free of the linen and tangled them with Louis'. "Get out."

Despite his dejection, Harry's actions wanted Louis to stay. Louis kissed his cheek again and let slip his arms to around Harry's neck. "Who am I, Harry?"

Harry shivered and his teeth rattled. The gauze in his mouth was broken and he pried it out of his mouth with bloody fingers, flinging it aside. He let his reddened lips latch onto Louis' neck. "Louis."

"I'm the one who said I do." Louis combed through Harry's sweaty curls and gave his cheek another kiss. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You brought my nightmares back." Harry whispered, voice carried by a struggling vein. He was erratic, gone to another part of his mind where the memories were muddled. "They never left."

"Shh." Louis crossed his ankles around Harry's back and comforted this terrifying, fearful man. "Sleep, Harry. Sleep."

Harry has left many crimson streaks across his neck and shoulder, bleeding gums leaving his mouth stained bloody. He makes Louis' warmth his sanctuary. "Work-"

"Work can _wait_." Louis felt Harry's arm force its way into an arch around his hip. He knew it was hard to win over a proud man like Harry, so he had to try another tactic. "You'll stay with me? I don't feel safe, H."

"Yes." Harry grumbled. He would stay if his new groom was afraid.

  
* * * * *  


The entire household thought Harry had either murdered or bedded his new husband by now. It's past the time for lunch and not a soul surfaces from Harry's room, then dinner time passes and the same result is found. No rancid smells come through the door and Alfie hasn't gotten response when he went knocking.

Inside that room was dead silent, yet not one of the two occupants was asleep. Harry woke up normal as ever after two hours and Louis followed soon after, coaxed into consciousness by the hand inspecting his hip. They were separated by a pillow, staring at each other with nothing to say yet everything to communicate.

Louis hid half his face in his pillow, squirmy under Harry's heated gaze. He reached over bravely and skimmed Harry's shoulder with his fingertips. "What was that?"

Harry expected him to ask. "Don't worry about-"

"Don't say that." Louis shook his head and retracted his hand, meeting Harry's haunted gaze. "You were terrified, Harry."

"Somehow I didn't manage to scare you." The man commented, his voice low and gravely. 

Louis flexed his fingers and toes. "You weren't the.....scariest thing I've seen."

This response irked Harry. He shoved the pillow away and dragged Louis closer to him by his elbow. "What have you seen?"

"Doesn't matter." Louis propped himself up on his elbow and squeaked when he was yanked back down again. "Harry, don't."

"Fine." The man fisted the back of Louis' shirt and he inhaled the scent Louis' jugular carried. "I suppose I have to thank you."

"No." Louis flattened his palms on Harry's chest. He flexed his fingers and tested the dampness of Harry's muscular exterior. "You can bring me food?"

Harry breathed in deeply and tucked Louis into the crook of his arm, doing all he can to mask a smile. "What have you done to me, _macushla_?"

"It's been three days." Louis grips the back of Harry's neck. "I've done nothing I wasn't meant to."

"Are you lying to your husband?" Harry captured Louis' chin between his thumb and forefinger. His eyes shimmered, humour amongst predatorial black. 

Louis held Harry's wrist and grinned sheepishly. Unbeknownst to them both, the banter was reflected in a small humble twinkle between their gazes. "Dare I say I am."

Harry was _almost_ tempted enough to lean down and kiss away Louis' attitude. He could only sniff and despise his uncomfortable state. "You know how much I still want you."

"I know." Louis brushed some of Harry's hair behind his ear and thumbed away the crusted blood at the corner of his mouth. "You still have to earn me."

"We're in bed together and we haven't kissed." Harry points out blandly. He blinks like it means nothing to state something so openly. 

"That's right." Louis taps Harry's nose with his forefinger and winks. "You've got a long way to go."

Harry's nose scrunches up a bit and Louis giggles because his husband is such a sober person. "What is amusing you?"

"You." Louis reaches up and pinches the bridge of Harry's nose. "You need to let go a bit."

Harry raises an eyebrow to question Louis' prerogative. "Let me bed you and I will."

With a scoff, Louis attempts to wake up. His plan fails when Harry finds reason to pin him back down, their fingers interlocked and Louis' knees spread. Harry stretches himself out over Louis with a growl resonating from his chest, gulping down Louis' surprised whine. He wants to tempt this boy, wants to see how far he can go.

"You won't let me?" Harry nuzzles Louis' neck and tries not to lose himself. He feels Louis' nails digging into his knuckles. "I fuck _hard_ and you're telling me you don't want that?"

Louis' blush crept at a quickening pace up to his cheeks and he whimpered from the attention on his crotch. He chewed his lip when warm breath sporadically distributed itself over it. "I don't want our sex to be fucking."

"It's going to be." Harry nosed cautiously along Louis' throat. "Resist all you want but you're going to want me too."

"I do want you." Louis wasn't inhuman. He hasn't thought about having Harry in bed but that doesn't mean it hasn't crossed his mind at all. "Just not now when we're not even friends yet."

This information confused Harry. "You're my husband."

Louis caught the sides of Harry's face and pushed him off, crawling with agility onto the man's lap. He kept Harry's eyes on him without effort and graciously wrapped his legs around the man. 

"I'm going to love you one day." Louis said firmly, looking into Harry's darkening eyes from above. "That's going to happen before I spread my legs for you."

Harry disagreed and his scowl conveyed that fact. "I'm an impatient man."

"Too bad." Louis brought his lips to Harry's cheek. "You're going to have to wait for me."

  
* * * * *  


It's almost eight and Louis has been close to chewing his own hand off. Rose held his wrists and coached him through the evening. His first date with his _husband_ is scheduled for anytime now and he still hasn't changed for the night.

Harry was not as visibly stressed. He was antsy and splendidly eager to see Louis again, touch him. Alfie and a couple spies informed him that the old dining room was off bounds to everyone since the couple resurfaced from Harry's room. He hardly reads the documents he's supposed to sign and wakes up to pace around the room at something to eight.

Louis showers for fifteen minutes until he's squeaky clean and a little pink. The night is humid and he's already opened the doors in the dining room for ventilation. He can't remember if he told Harry to dress formally or not. Louis stresses about what to wear with Snow watching him from the bed.

"You're not helping." He mutters to the puppy. "You're supposed to be helping, Snow."

Louis chooses a purple long-sleeved shirt that needs to be folded past his wrists. He pulls his first pair of shoes since he started to live here over white socks and jean shorts that end above his knee. After locking the room, Louis mumbles to himself about all the things he needs to get right. While he battles with the collar of his shirt that keeps slipping off his shoulder, Snow starts yapping.

"Yes?" He starts down the staircase and doesn't give his pet all that much attention. Remembering that Snow can't do the same, he turns around to pick him up. "Sorry, bud."

Upon revolving again, Louis stops short on his third step. Harry is personified charm standing at the bottom of the staircase. He is alone and the foyer lights have been put off, leaving him in his suave tuxedo. Louis is glad there's no light so Harry can't see him blush. 

Harry's suit was positively endearing and Louis wants to swoon at how committed he's become. There's a tiny smirk playing on Harry's lips and he smiles too, face heating up. Harry's blackened skin against porcelain white features stood out remarkably. It appeared as if he was wearing a mask. His beady red eyes would be terrifying in such a dark environment but Louis has learned to be fond of them.

He all but hurries down the rest of the staircase, aware of Harry's eyes on him the whole time. Snow hops to the ground and Louis is left standing one step above Harry, biting his lip.

"So." Louis admires everything from the tie to the dress shoes. "You look handsome."

Harry took Louis by the waist and picked him up, a new ritual as it has become for him. Louis moulds so perfectly to him, arms and legs around him. "Have I earned you yet?"

"Little bit." Louis giggles and kisses Harry's cheek for longer than a peck. "You're wearing cologne?"

"Not to your liking?" Harry checks. His hands cradle Louis' thighs and his wedding band glistens under the faintest light coming in through the windows. 

Louis rests his elbows on Harry's shoulders and neatens up some of the man's curls. He sniffed a bit and decided that he liked this musky scent. "It's bearable. Now are you going to carry me to our date?"

"Yes." Harry gives him an indiscreet squeeze. "Now, where to?"

"The dining room." Louis clears his throat and straightens his back a bit, his height taller than Harry's now. "Can I cover your eyes?"

"No." Harry curts.

"Why not?" Louis taunts his husband as they make their way under the staircase to a wing that's bordered off with another set of varnished double doors. "Are you scared?"

Harry gets closer to laughing than he ever has before. Louis watches his lips twitch and his canines peek out, not bloody this time. "You are certainly frightening."

"Thanks." Louis rolls his eyes and slumps in Harry's arms lazily. He blushes when the man just holds him tighter.

Louis' date plan was to organise the dining room as he pleased. The grand table stretched from nearly wall to wall, two place settings on either on. Tall windows lined the walls and were gaping open for the pale curtains to billow in the breeze. Louis wasn't allowed out in the gardens and he didn't have the time to argue so he merely got one of Harry's guards to pick the right flowers for him. Those flowers now sat as the table's centrepiece.

"Do you like it?" Louis can admit he's very content with being back on his own two feet. Not that being manhandled around by his brutish husband isn't appealing.

Harry takes it all in silently, and Louis can see the wheels in his head turning for the smirk on his lips to deepen. He waits with a pout for the final verdict.

"If we're going to be eating-" Harry starts, glancing at his gleeful spouse. "-who will serve us?"

The colour in Louis' face paled and he was immediately grumbling in self-hatred, stamping his foot. "I _knew_ I forgot something."

He was about to storm off and find someone to beg for a favour when Harry gathered him up in his arms and smothered affectionately. "Settle down, my little Louis. You're so aggravated all the time."

Louis' pout worsened and he dramatically sighed. "That's the most important part, Harry."

Harry gave the top of his head a small kiss that extinguished Louis' concerns. He didn't release the boy either until he'd calmed down. "We will bring the food here ourselves."

"I suppose." Louis straightened Harry's tie and freed himself. "Come on, H. We're getting late."

Louis discovered a food trolley in the kitchen pantry and he loaded all the plates onto it, batting Harry's hands away when the man tried to peek under the food cloche. They roll it into the dining room and Louis moves Harry's place setting to his, laying both out side by side instead of across from one another.

"It's going to rain soon." Louis offhandedly commented, closing two of the windows. 

Harry was watching him. Always so dedicated to observing Louis' every move. "Yes."

Louis lit candles on the dining room table and hissed when hot wax fell on his finger. Harry berated him with an unsatisfied glare before peeling the wax off, and rubbing the flushed skin with his thumb.

"You are so clumsy." Harry tells him while he discards the wax. 

"Thanks." Louis gets into his chair by climbing into it and crossing his legs, grinning when Harry looks at him questioningly. "Come sit with me."

Louis advertises the salad before they're allowed to eat it and Harry just about disobeys him because of hunger. His husband is a fiery soul that glows from within so brightly that he puts the candle to shame. Harry eats while Louis talks about the smallest facts in his life, from his pet cat that ran away ten years ago to how he saved a kid from drowning.

"You hardly talk." Louis says to Harry when his salad is done and he's turned to face Harry. He tilts his head to the side a bit, pulling his shirt back over his shoulder. "Why is that?"

Harry sets down his fork and reaches over bravely to topple Louis' shirt again, revealing the tan expanse of skin. He looks his husband in the eye when he sits back. "You talk enough for the both of us, my little Louis."

"Mean." Louis glowers and nearly jumps when a flash of lightning spooks him, sleets of rain starting to fall. "Have you ever played in the rain?"

"No." Harry reads Louis' mind and grabs the boy's arm to keep him still. "Neither will you."

"It'll be fun." Louis guarantees, another flash contradicting his excitement. "Never mind."

"Sit, _macushla_." Harry encourages until the boy does. "Or would you like to be on my lap again?"

Louis scoffed but his facade soon withered when Harry held out his hand and he took it. Before long, his place was on Harry's lap between two risen arm rests and Harry's arms themselves. He sat sidewards so he could watch the rain, catch glimpses of the lightning as it complemented the thunder. 

They sat in silence. It didn't feel awkward or uncanny. Harry sometimes rubbed Louis' sides and Louis traced imaginary patterns on his bicep. Their food got cold by the time Louis forced them to eat, twirling spaghetti on his fork before jabbing the meatballs. 

"Storms are beautiful, aren't they?" Harry breaks the silence to remark, his hands having returned to the small of Louis' back. He meets the boy's eye before continuing. "Tempests make their own music. They are powerful and frightening, yet rain gives life to so many things."

Louis hadn't thought for a second that Harry might have a poetic side. He feels like the keeper to the world's biggest secret. "Everything about nature is glorious, Harry. There isn't a single thing that I am ungrateful for."

Their night continues as the storm does. Harry shares in Louis' dessert of chocolate cake and a glass of red wine. Louis hated alcohol and therefore stuck with water but all through the meal his eyes returned to Harry's blackened lips. He knew that his husband couldn't taste a single thing he made for him.

"Fuck." Harry suddenly cursed and prodded at his jaw, the swollen lump of his cheek where his molars were jagged.

"Are you wearing your gauze?" Louis asked, reaching for a clean napkin and folding it into a triangle.

"Broke it." Harry replied, a lisp to his words. 

"Open up." Louis slipped the napkin in and let the blood soak into it. He got a second one and did the same, positioning each one to lessen discomfort. "Now don't speak."

Harry was frowning deeply and he looked a bit comical but Louis didn't have it in him to laugh. He wiped the blood off Harry's lips and blushed when he caught the man staring so intently at him.

"Open." He ordered when he was certain the napkins had soaked through. 

With slightly trembling fingers, Louis replaced the two with one and watched Harry's stoney gaze soften. 

"Hey." Louis didn't let Harry turn away when he tried to kiss the man's cheek. This was obviously an insecurity, a sign of weakness for his husband. "Don't turn away, Harry."

When Harry refused to obey, Louis forced him into submitting. He framed the man's jaw, careful around his swelling, and kissed him. Their first kiss stood to be a magnificent one that roared louder than any thunder. Harry eased into it the way Louis utterly melted.

Their lips united in a perfect embrace and all the tingles they felt with small touched burst into a spark. Louis didn't care about the gauze or the blood, the way Harry didn't care about it either anymore. He held Louis' waist and kept their faces that close, unable to deepen it due to the napkin.

Louis at last pulled away and he had red specks on his lips, put there by Harry. He was blushing and he just opened his eyes to reveal their electric yet shy blue shade. Harry studied him, this immensely beautiful creature.

"So-" Louis avoided Harry's stare. He wouldn't survive returning it. "-do you always-"

Harry pulled him back down by then, his napkin discarded and mouth a fury on Louis'. He's concentrating on the kiss, brows furrowed and lips working skilfully to part Louis'. There's a punishing essence to this kiss, one that's asserting the fact that Louis will taste blood and not cringe. He wants to _know_ that Louis' affections are genuine.

He slips his tongue into Louis' mouth and flicks it against the roof above his tongue. Louis moans and encircles Harry's neck with his arms, leaning closer. Harry feels the dampness of blood seep onto their cheeks from the corners of their mouths and tastes Louis' tongue like he needs it to survive.

Louis should be disgusted but he isn't. He should pull away and run off but he can't. The taste is unpleasant but his fondness for Harry overpowers that and he settles without resistance. Harry nips at Louis' bottom lip and massages the boy's tongue with his own, hearing the latter's body ripple with whimpers.

Harry let's go when he's had his fill and Louis' eyes are blown wide, a nasty yet carnivorous appearance cast on him. His lips and chin had red on them, part of cheek smeared as well. He was still astride Harry's lap, his hands on the man's torso and his eyes embarrassed. Harry growls possessively and reels Louis in.

"I want to sleep between your thighs tonight." He deadpans, panting himself like the only thing in the world capable of weakening him is Louis.

"Harry-"

"Not sex." Harry cuts him off. He sees Louis' trepidation and kisses the boy again, softer and languid. "I want the comfort of your skin on mine."

  
* * * * *  


Louis was near trembling as he paced anxiously in the en-suite bathroom. Harry, his husband, was on the other side of that door. He had changed into comfortable sleep wear that comprised of silk shorts and a vest that swung loosely at his knees. Harry showered prior to Louis and was just as nervous as he, although his ability to mask it was stealthier.

Louis crept out of the bathroom and padded across the carpet to the desk by the window. He was spooked when hands settled on his waist, a pair of lips on his neck. "H-Hey."

Harry hums and nuzzles into him. He appreciates the steady thrum of Louis' blood in his veins. "Are you ready?"

"We're not having sex." Louis points out _again_ when he turns around and finds his bare-chested husband smirking down at him. 

"I know." Harry takes Louis' hand off the table's edge and leads him deeper into the room. "You made that abundantly clear."

Louis' knees hit the bed and he squealed when Harry had him swept off the ground. He was laid down carefully so he was cradled by many pillows, chewing his lip harshly as he fought to overcome his nerves. Harry didn't force him. He waited for Louis to lay back comfortably and gingerly part his knees.

"Stop this." Harry crawled over to him and kissed the top of Louis' knee. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Louis breathed out shakily and looked at him. "You're not helping."

"Alright, my little Louis." Harry raises himself higher and winks when Louis gasps at the contact between his thighs. 

Harry lowers himself down to his elbows and brings his lips to Louis'. "May I?"

Louis let's him unite their lips, a sloppy connection. He opens up for it and tangles his fingers into Harry's hair, letting the tongue invading his mouth get all it wants. Harry is addicted to kissing Louis, wants to do it for a duty. He groans and sinks into Louis' space, wary of the sensitivity of his gums and ignoring it.

Louis closes his eyes and let's Harry into his head. He allows this new calm to control him and makes out with his husband like they're teenagers in the old world, hiding from society. His legs fall open and Harry grips his thighs, hitching them up on his waist. 

"What is this?" Harry curled his fingers into Louis' shirt, prying his lips away. _"Take it off."_

"No." Louis licked his lips and stuck his tongue out for a moment. 

Harry growls before swooping in for another mind numbing kiss, his skilful tongue sliding across Louis'. "You think I won't make you?"

"Fine." Louis isn't insecure about his body. He'll weigh a thousand pounds and never regret going shirtless. It's his body and nobody can judge it. 

Harry watches in worship when Louis peels the vest off over his head and drops it to the floor. He knows not to further their amorous activities so soon, and settles down between the boy's legs. Unable to resist, he does lay a kiss to the spot where his head with rest on Louis' tummy.

"Goodnight." Louis whispers when the room is dark again and he listens to the owl outside. 

Harry smiles and hides it in Louis' warm belly. "Goodnight, my little Louis."

Harry's nightmares woke Louis up toward midnight. His husband's body shook like he was overruled by an entity more powerful than he, gripping Louis' body so tightly he might cause damage. Louis wiggled free of Harry's burly arms before he got on top of him, pinning the man down.

It felt like routine and the thought sickened Louis. He held Harry's hands and whispered soothingly in his ear, combed through his hair when he got the chance. Harry slowly faded into peace and he was damp with sweat, clutching Louis to his chest like a lifeline.

  
* * * * *  


Louis woke up, exhausted and moody. Harry didn't let him sleep _at all_ after the tremors from his nightmares overtook his willpower. The Master of this household and territory kept his husband awake to hold, to soothe. 

Harry was just, if not twice, as exhausted as Louis. He was panting like a broken sprinter the entire night and his skin was sticky with sweat. His body weighed heavy on Louis' side and he had a permanent scowl on his features. The blackened skin about his eyes were further marred by pain, stress. 

Someone came knocking and Louis bulleted to the door, yanking it open to reveal Alfie. "He's sleeping."

The servant looks majorly startled by Louis' hushed tone. "O-Okay, Sir."

"Thanks." Louis smiles briefly and waves Alfie goodbye, shutting the door soundly. 

He drags his feet back to bed and finds that Harry is still knocked out, snoring softly into his pillow. Louis glares at the peacefully sleeping man before climbing in next to him, sidling up to his husband. He stays awake, yawning and staring at the ceiling while Snow sleeps at the foot of the bed.

Harry doesn't awaken more than he does to curl his protective embrace around Louis' waist. He breathes audibly with blocked sinuses and through plump, pouted lips. Louis admires how youthful he is in slumber.

"I think-" He whispers to the deeply sleeping silhouette, trailing his fingertip down to Harry's clavicle. "I think I could care for you."

Breakfast three hours was miserable for Louis. He couldn't let his eyes slip closed without some sudden noise frightening him. Cereal at his disposal with orange juice and everything was too far away. Harry was next to him and the man didn't look affronted when Louis leaned against him, half asleep.

"Make him warm milk, Rose." Harry instructs the woman trying to appear busy so she didn't have to fawn over the couple. 

"No." Louis mumbles in protest and yawns, hiding his face in the crook of Harry's arm. "Have stuff to do."

"Warm milk." Harry clarifies with his staff before scooping Louis up onto his lap, not letting his victim escape. "I want you to sleep today. That's an order."

"You're not my boss." Louis sagged in Harry's familiar embrace and let himself drift. He was shocked into consciousness and the throb of an impending migraine with a crash of pots. " _Ow._ What-"

"Shh." Harry covered his ears and delivered a deathly glare in warning to the servant that caused the collapse. "Sleep, my little Louis."

"Your fault." Louis complained, curling into a ball. He blamed Harry entirely and unfortunately, all the listening ears took his statement out of context.

"Yes. I am aware." Harry took the mug of warmed milk from Rose and encouraged Louis to drink it with a straw. "Will you finally listen and sleep?"

"No." Louis pushed the empty mug away and licked his dairy moustache away, eyes weary and voice slurred. "Carry me."

"Yes." Harry gets up off his chair and takes Louis with him, striding out of the kitchen at a slow pace. 

He watches Louis fall asleep on the way to their bedroom and keeps him protected from the walls or ornaments. Louis stays unconscious when he kicks the door open and walks over to the bed, laying the boy down. Under the covers and hidden in a palace of feather pillows, Harry can't make his husband out from other sickeningly angelic things. 

"Dream sweet." Harry kisses the skin below Louis' ear. "More beautiful than anything I've ever seen before and twice as difficult to impress. I'd marry you every day for the rest of my life."

  
* * * * *  


"You've got to stop summoning me." Louis drums his fingers on the door to Harry's study. His husband was leaning over the edge, studying some papers with furrowed brows.

Harry turns around briefly and that frustration melts. He holds out his hand for Louis to take. "You want me to leave you alone?"

"No." Louis stepped into the threshold of his arms and sneaked a peek at the papers. "What's all this."

"Fucking miserable documents." Harry hoisted Louis onto the table, sitting him down on the edge. "From smaller settlements."

"What do they want?" Louis crosses his legs and picks one up. The script is elegant and nearly indecipherable.

"Shelter." Harry pushes his hair back and creeps up closer to Louis, quietly demanding attention. "They want to be part of our territory."

"And you think it's a bad idea?" Louis smirks when he notices Harry's objective. 

"Yes." Harry parts Louis' legs and wraps them around him. He leans in for his well deserved kiss. 

Louis smiles and pushes himself off the table, right into the trap of Harry's arms. He accepts his husband's kiss with fervour and a little whine, tilting his head. Harry's tongue dips into the seam of his lips and swipes against his wet muscle, nipping at Louis' lip. His kiss is desperate and hungry, taking Louis for all he's worth.

"Hey." Louis pulls away and Harry's lips fall to his throat, mouthing at his skin. "Weren't you working?"

"I summoned you for a purpose." Harry squeezes Louis' thighs and sits down in a nearby chair. "You wanted a trip into town?"

Louis lights up instantly. He sets his knees on either side of Harry's lap and sits back on his haunches. "Yes please."

"You will get your wish if you are ready after breakfast." Harry brushes Louis' blushing cheek with his knuckles. "We have a few schools I imagine you might enjoy visiting."

Rose brought them breakfast and gave Louis a very indiscreet wink on her way out. Louis turned beet red and picked up a toasted bagel, one that Harry already smeared with cream cheese. He tore bits off and ate it in the envelopment of Harry's arms around him, the man working to cut up his omelette.

"So-" Louis fed Harry the last chunk of his bagel and stole some of his cheese omelette. "-why are you going into town?"

Harry swallowed and watched Louis steal even more coffee from him. "I have to check on the armoury."

"You have an armoury?" Louis licks the traces of caffeine and crumbs off his lips. "What for?"

"Safety." Harry answers as if it's obvious. "There are people who want to take what I've done here."

Louis pouts in sympathy and looks at the discarded papers. "Are they some of those people?"

"Yes." Harry leans into Louis' chest where he hides his visage in the comfort of the boy's skin. He breathes in deeply and exhales tiredly, eyes closed so he can bask in Louis' embrace. 

"You're not going to let them, are you?" Louis soothes Harry's woes with constant brushes through his curls. 

Harry scoffs a little proudly and sits back in his vast leather seat. "This is home for myself and for you now, my little Louis. I can't let miscreants take that from us."

Louis hummed and chewed on his lip to keep his smile from widening inexplicably. "You're so protective of everything. Were you always this way?"

"Hmm." Harry rubs his hands up and down Louis' back, reeling him in closer inch by inch. "Are you fine? Can we leave soon?"

"Sure." Louis uses Harry's shoulders for leverage to straighten up and partially climb off his husband's lap. "I'll meet you in the foyer in a few minutes."

Harry doesn't catch Louis in time and he's left staring at his husband's retreating silhouette. He shakes his head amusedly and conforms to his own norm when Rose comes in to take the dishes away. She gives him a once over but other than the creases on his pants, there's hardly a change in their Master.

"Anything else, Master?" She asks, stepping back towards the door when he wakes up to his towering height and returns to his papers.

"Yes." He clears his hoarse throat and presses his knuckles into the varnishes table's surface. "Tell Alfie I'm not signing anything until I meet with the leaders of these settlements. I'm going to see Louis."

It was apparent to the entire mansion that Harry chased after Louis day and night. It has been a whole week of their Master being unable to go more than twenty heartbeats without his marriage partner. Louis could be in another wing or the garden but Harry knew exactly where to find him in the moments he needed. It was endearing for those who have witnessed Harry be alone all these years.

Louis was upstairs in their room trying to find a pair of pants that over his knees when the bedroom door opened. He suspected it to be Harry and sighed fondly when a body plastered itself to his back.

"Hey." He greeted his persistent husband with the semblance of a smirk and held onto the arms around him. 

Harry's arms got a little tighter and his chest rumbled in the echo of a disipitating growl. "You aren't ready yet."

Louis didn't respond more than reaching up to cradle Harry's jaw, to peck the man's cheek. He was fond of this brutish man just as he _knew_ Harry was fond of him. There was no other reason for why they slept separately and woke up tangled together. Harry stalked him in their own home and Louis knew it was because the man's become unhealthily hooked on their united presence.

"Sit." Louis sought out Harry's hand and led the latter to their bed. "Wait for me to get ready."

Harry obediently sat on the edge of their mattress, serving as a hanger for all the clothes Louis tossed at him. He folded each one while the boy left them dishevelled. Louis slipped on shoes and yoga pants, his flattering lavender sweater testifying to his innocence. 

"I'm ready." Louis announces when Harry looks at him grumpily. He let's the man take his hand, their fingers tangled. 

"Wait." Harry grunts when Louis nearly tows him out of the room. He bends his knees and kisses Louis' forehead, a mythical crown for the boy to wear always. "Now you're ready."

Louis beams brighter than the sun and twice as important to a mortal like Harry. He cups his broader husband's cheek and welcomes the affection, kissing the blackened lips near to his. They're cold but scorching, soft yet coarse. They're made for him. 

"Can I ride with you?" Louis whispers, stepping closer to Harry so being pulled in isn't difficult.

"Yes." Harry answers immediately, fingers fanned out over Louis' hips. Louis giggled, light and muted. "You must."

Harry's steed was revealed to be a mare with a glistening black coat. She was well above Louis' height and blew out frosty puffs of air over his head. He was intimidated by her monstrous appeal and tall, muscular stature. Harry tossed a saddle onto her back before strapping it down firmly, grabbing her bridle roughly to make her head bow.

"Up." Harry nudged Louis in the direction of the horse's back, holding his horse steady.

"Um-" Louis stuttered helplessly, toeing at the ground. "Maybe I can walk?"

"Absolutely not." Harry hoisted him up onto the mare's back, setting him down at the arch of her neck. "Comfortable?"

"I think so." Louis bit his lip and looked at the ground well below his dangling feet.

Harry mounted up behind him, bracketing Louis' thighs with his own. He brought the reins back so Louis was cradled by them, the mare's head raising a great degree. Louis grasped the horse's mane with both hands, his heart rabbiting in his chest.

"Don't be afraid." Harry nuzzled Louis' neck while the horse got ready to move, her footing wavering as Louis squeaked.

"What if I fall?" Louis' fingers turned page white, his fingertips lost in the mare's curly hair. 

Harry sighed a bit before revolutionising an idea. He loosened the reins and draped the lengthier one around Louis' waist, fastening him to the horse and saddle. Louis laughed when the belt tightened and Harry's arm sneaked onto his middle, wrapping around him from behind.

"Do you feel secure now?" The man asked in his ear, shivers racing like ice down Louis' spine.

"L- um-" Louis clears his throat to mask the waver in his increased pitch. "Little bit."

Harry's hold turns to wrought iron and Louis grasps his bicep, leaning into his husband with no trepidation. The man welcomes any closeness by kissing the top of Louis' head, doing little to focus on the mare when she started onward.

"You are safe with me." Harry promises and reminds Louis all in one breath, meeting their escorts by the gate to the mansion.

Louis feels himself start to ache where his body is forced to sit in a way he isn't used to. He frowns and tried to balance himself, easing the pressure on his crotch. Harry is amused and stops all his movements, not wanting attention to be drawn to his petite husband.

"What are you fussing for?" Harry asked while they waited for the brass gates to be opened, peeling back on its hinges.

"It's uncomfortable." Louis hisses, batting Harry's arms away so he can figure this out.

By the time he does, Harry's had their entire party of guards and himself waiting for ten minutes. The delay was spent helping Louis get better suited to his seat, ending with a result of him swinging both legs off one side. This position allowed him to feel less pained and free to secure himself. 

"This is dangerous." Harry disapproves of Louis' side saddle option. He braces his mare back a few paces.

"Is not." Louis argues softly, sighing. "I promise I won't fall."

"Fine." Harry was still apprehensive but he had Louis against him, which was enough certainty to keep the boy safe.


	6. Chapter Six.

**_[A/N: Wanna watch The Lion King again but I also don't want to die. - S xx]_ **

Louis didn't expect the town Harry controlled and protected to be this advanced. Five years after a near apocalypse struck the world, he had no idea that people could progress this far ahead. Homes made of brick lined perfectly tarred streets, small businesses and shops frequenting the different blocks. 

Society has revived itself and brought about order under Harry's moderation once again. Louis marvelled at the structured schools and organisations behind Harry's walls, the towering concrete masses meant to keep those within it protected. Land for miles onward in the direction of all four cardinal points was occupied, a wide strip allowed to circulate the hill Harry's mansion was built upon.

Harry had left Louis with two guardsmen at their only established primary school, something the boy insisted upon visiting. He gave the trio a thirty minute allowance before he would back for Louis.

"Have you been here before?" Louis asks his present companions, who stuck to their stride behind him. 

"No, Sir." One of them answered politely.

Louis stepped into the building through the yard intended for play and rolled his eyes when the door was held open for him. The principal of the school came to greet him, an elderly woman with greying hair and a warm smile. She took Louis' hand between both of hers, leading him past the room meant to be her office.

"It's so wonderful of you to visit us, dear." She says sweetly, mindful of the guards at Louis' tail. "I'm Edith."

"It's lovely to meet you, Edith." Louis smiles courteously and walks with her into the wide hallway, lined with a dozen classroom doors. "How old is this school?"

"Three years, dear." She answers him, playing his guide to the first door. "Would you like to meet the children?"

"Of course." Louis felt his fondness for children bubbling at the surface, rubbing his hands together. "What's the youngest age group you have?"

"We have a daycare." The principal informs him. "As young as newborns."

Louis doesn't like to think that parents are so busy with their lives that they are forced to leave their little ones at a daycare. He nods anyway and follows her into the classroom containing several first graders, all busied at their square plastic tables with drawing books.

He is introduced to the wide-eyed wonders and was soon swept into a whirlwind of their nuisance. Grabbed by a limb each and dragged to the vibrant blue table, Louis was circled by youth before he could breathe. Endeared by their sweet nature and too fixated to ask the little girl on his lap to leave, he accepted their request to read a book. 

Time flew when they each showed Louis their latest crayon artwork and he collected quite a few for himself as gifts. He read another fairytale with twins on his lap, their attention enraptured by a hooded girl in red. 

"Are you enjoying school then?" He asks the classroom around him, brushing some of the unruly golden curls off a lovely girl's forehead. 

He got a chorus of agreements from the children, each one clutching something they fancied from their sacred place of learning. 

"Anyone not having fun?" He asks for clarification, raising his eyebrow when some giggles came from his toddler crowd. "No? That's good."

The attention of Louis' guards were drawn away from him and the young hosts when Louis felt a disembodied chill cascade down his spine. He stiffened at the echo of heavy boots in the hallway and the shuffle of his guards to move away. The skin of his body and hair standing to attention knew when Harry was more than near, his presence radiating toward him. 

Louis bid farewell to the children hurriedly with pleasant smiles and made sure to pass around his hugs before stealing out of the room. He blew a kiss in their direction before walking out, his guards shutting the door just in time to come into contact with a hard torso.

"Hi." He doesn't have to look up from gripping Harry's lapels to know that the hands on his waist belong to his husband. 

A pair of lips graze his forehead. "Hello."

Louis tilts his head back and finds Harry's vibrant bloody eyes focused on him, lips set in a grim line. "Came to take me home?"

Harry leads Louis outside by his hand and back onto the steed Louis is slightly terrified of. He is quiet the whole ride back to the mansion and doesn't even issue further orders to any of their guards, just hoisting Louis off the mare. Louis gets to jog to keep up when he's towed up the front steps and through the foyer, squeaking when Harry hauls him off the ground at the staircase.

"Is something wrong?" He asks when the man kicks their bedroom door open with a violent echo, slamming it shut. 

Louis barely manages to cloak his shriek when Harry topples him onto the mattress, crawling over his body. His form is broader, shielding Louis at every crevice. The man looks into Louis' eyes with such intensity that it burns, scorches his skin. Louis grips Harry's biceps and bites his lip doubtfully.

"Harry." He caresses his husband's cheek with his knuckles. "What's the matter?"

Harry pins his hands down with a mountain of strength, burying his face in Louis' neck. Teeth find his pulse, sinking in deep enough to sting the rush of blood beneath skin. Louis arches and whimpers, his shoes discarded by Harry.

"I need some of you." Harry runs his hands up Louis' arms and laces their fingers together in an indestructible knot. He makes Louis whine by stretching him out forcefully. "Let me have some of you, my little Louis."

"What do you want?" Louis panted, shifting to avoid the friction on his crotch. He blinks at the ceiling, wincing ever so often as Harry's dripping molars dug deeper into his throat. 

Harry growled, a man possessed. "You won't let me experience what it is to be inside you."

"No." Louis swallowed thickly and succumbed to the icy lash out of nerves in his belly. "T-Too soon."

"Let me show you something." Harry is suddenly off him, leaving Louis gasping and dishevelled. 

The man is kneeling on the bed before Louis, deftly undoing the buttons on his shirt. Louis watches while clutching the sheets to his chest, eyes wide with trepidation. Harry pins Louis' gaze like a predator willing its prey to obey, tossing his shirt aside and holding out his hand.

"Come here." He encourages, eyes dull yet glowing with the finesse of sinister nobility. "Louis."

His puzzled husband accepts the offer, crawling onto Harry's lap with cautious movements. Astride the man's thighs and still bundled in their sheets, Louis waits. 

"What's this about, Harry?" He asks, scared and impatient. His heart raced and his brain weighed heavy. 

Harry answered by taking the hand of Louis' he had in his grasp, leading it to his back. His skin is warm and smooth, not soft yet entirely delicate in its own way. Louis curls his other arm around Harry's neck while his hand is shifted lower, lower. It stops right below the small of Harry's back.

"What-" He flattens his palm over the spot of skin, antsy and excitable from being able to touch Harry. 

Harry hides his face in Louis' neck, his arms returning to wind around the boy's waist. He embraces his husband tightly, protective and wishful. "Feel."

Louis does so. He takes a shaky breath and thumbs over Harry's heated skin until he feels it, the slightly risen circular scar. His body jolts backward but Harry doesn't condone his rejection, and grips him tighter. Louis' dread fills his system, flooding his might. He is caught between hugging Harry tighter or pushing him away.

"Oh Harry." He decides on the former, wrapping his legs around his husband and covering the scar with his body. "I'm so sorry."

Those that were born resilient to the disease destined to destroy the planet, were called outsiders. They had black eyes and black skin, no heart under their pale skin. Then they were the experiments, those whose DNA was twisted in torturous scientific ventures. They were treated inhumanely to produce the vaccine that could be harvested and save everyone.

Not one of the scientists predicted that the exposure to the disease could mutate their basic genetic make-up. The corrupted DNA of the naturally resilient and the strain of the violent disease caused those it acted upon to experience death each day, pulling life from them like a thorn from cotton. 

Among their mutations were the basic traits of something unnatural, the tail and barely noticeable horns. They were supposed to all be killed, never spoken of like the demons they were. Now, Louis discovers that Harry is one of those mere victims turned monsters.

"Did you tell anyone else?" Louis whispered his question in Harry's ear, slipping his fingers into the man's curls. 

Harry parts his lips and latches onto Louis' shoulder. "No."

"It's okay." Louis feels his spirit dampen and his soul be disheartened when he imagines the horror Harry must have gone through. All those knives and vials, his body bombarded with cruelty. "It's okay, I promise."

Why Harry pounced this revelation on him is beyond Louis, but he doesn't question it either. His husband has long since been declared odd in his emotional standing. Louis just let's Harry hold him, combing through his silky locks with shaky fingers.

"When did you....-" Louis had no way of asking without feeling like his insides were thoroughly knotted. "Did you cut them off?"

"Yes." Harry replied monotonously. He has come to terms with the anguish he had to put himself through one night alone in the woods with a scalpel and some matches. "It was a risk to have anyone see them."

"Oh." Louis controlled his exhale and squeezed his eyes shut, his chest clamping down on his lungs. "What brought this on?"

Harry doesn't answer his question immediately, just continues to breathe and nibble on Louis' skin. He's grown accustomed to having the boy's body at his disposal in such unique and innocent ways, no innuendos or sexual energy. Their relationship was intimate all on its own.

"Why did you tell me?" He asks, feeling the drip of Harry's bleeding gums slide down his skin. 

"You are my husband." Harry asserted, closing his eyes. "I thought it would frighten you."

"You want me to be frightened?" Louis removes his hands from where they can feel the filed bases of the despised horns hidden amongst Harry's curls. 

"Yes." Harry mumbles. "That way I can let you run before catching you. I'd force you to stay with me."

"That doesn't make sense." Louis kisses Harry's shoulder. "Is it bad that I'm okay with it?"

"I knew you would be." Harry answers cryptically. 

"Then-" Louis scrunches up his nose in thought. "You want me to act like I'm upset?"

Harry doesn't reply.

"Harry?" Louis has a poor time of smothering his giggle when he pushes back, looking his husband in the eye. "Do you want me to pretend for you?"

Harry blinks, mind blank and gaze empty. He tilts his head a bit to the side like he's considering this proposition. "Yes."

Louis is pleasantly surprised by this response and takes his bottom lip between his teeth. The topic seemed to abrupt and sensitive to toy with this way, yet Harry was the man to decide when it became inappropriate. Louis would hate to underrate something major and colossal, but Harry wanted him to _role-play_ and what was he to make of that?

"Okay." Louis let his hands slide down to his lap lifelessly, chewing vengefully on the inside of his cheek. 

Harry waited patiently for Louis to act first. This isn't an objective he hoped to achieve so soon with his pretty husband, but the opportunity presented itself. He was weak to the will of domination, an irony that never failed him. There was a thrill of _making_ an angel like Louis submit, the power it gave him was far more intoxicating than just allowing Louis to accept him.

He had an unscratched itch under his skin and he wanted Louis to play along, to pretend that he didn't accept Harry's mutation. The man wanted him to run, to fear him, just so that he could be caught and held down. Louis is vibrant, _lively_ and would undoubtedly be a beautiful trophy.

"So-" Louis braced his palms over Harry's tattooed pectorals and peered up anxiously at him through dark lashes. "-what do you want me to do?"

Harry effortlessly slid off the mattress with Louis captive in his arms, keeping the boy just a bit off the ground. His arm caused Louis' shirt to bunch up, a tan column of his skin revealed under Harry's mercy.

He brought his lips to Louis' ear, his fingers digging into Louis' hips as they stood dependantly. " _Run_."

Louis was out of his arms in seconds, obliging to Harry's request. He darted out of the room and left the door swinging in his wake. The pathway he designated down the hallway was easily covered by the time Harry reacted to his departure. Louis looked over his shoulder, biting harshly on his lip as the adrenaline kicked in, a spark deep in his abdomen.

Harry was close behind when Louis jogged down the staircase and encountered Rose around the bend. He sprinted around him and allowed the pure state of enjoyment, the haunted realisation that he's going to be caught, be unleashed within himself. 

Louis takes on the secluded passage under the staircase with feline footing, creeping his way through the foyer. The promise of Harry anywhere behind him made Louis' skin prickle, his fingers curl. He had no idea where he was going but he knew he had to keep going.

He heard those familiar footsteps on his tail and Louis was spooked. Seamlessly, he was about to free himself from his darkened path when a freakishly cold hand caught his wrist. He shrieked and was dragged backward into the confidence of Harry's chest. 

Louis resisted until his back hit the wall and Harry crowded him in, hands on Louis' hips. The air was thick with blackness but Harry's grim red eyes glowed for Louis, allowing him the glimpse of dreadful light. Harry growled when Louis tried releasing himself, picking his husband up by his thighs.

"You'll do a better job next time." Harry took Louis' wrists and held them immobile against the wall. "I'll make sure of it."

His husband squirmed and took in the red of Harry's orbs, drawn in by the fire of beauty and threat. He couldn't look away when they grew closer, Harry's forehead resting on his. A whimper clawed its way up his throat and he bumped Harry's nose beckoningly. This man is his own demon.

"Are you going to let me kiss you?" Harry's lips brush Louis' cheekbone as he whispers the husky words to his husband. "Or will I have to take that as well?"

Louis squirms a bit, overheated under Harry's scrutiny. He knows what Harry wants just by looking into those feral crimson eyes. When his husband leans in, warm breath fanning over Louis' sticky lips, the boy turns away. Harry follows him with relentless persistence, muscle of his heart rubbing against his tightened ribcage as he growled.

Harry's blackened lips tasted Louis' jaw and cheekbone, his racing pulse and throbbing temple. He put his weight on the boy, unappreciative of the denial. When his worse nature won, Harry ceased Louis by the chin and forced him to obey. He ensnared Louis' lower lip between his teeth and tugged, his tongue flicking over the swollen cushion.

The air leaned towards thicker, heated gas that both suffocated and revived them. Louis' sparkling blue eyes were gem-like in their appeal through their mass of darkness. Harry's flaming red rubies challenged the sapphire purity, his interest more salacious.

Louis touches Harry's wrist, curling his fingers around the bony joint. "Thank you for telling me."

Harry didn't expect Louis to bring his earlier revelation up again. He takes a moment for himself, to process this boy's words.

"It couldn't have been easy." Louis continues when the silences wraps around him like a noose. "I appreciate your honesty."

By that moment, Harry is ready to respond. He leans in closer to Louis so their bodies are aligned from head to toe. "It was easy to say. It was easy to tell _you_."

Louis' expression softens into something malleable and awestruck. He winds his arms around Harry's neck to keep him bent over. "Guess what?"

Harry accepts this premise and nods to signal that Louis must carry on.

"I'm glad we're dating." Louis bumps Harry's nose with his own, grinning just after. 

"We are married." Harry doesn't _understand_ his infuriating fireball of a husband. "We sleep in the same bed."

"I don't care." Louis silences his endless excuses and pecks Harry's lips, damp and circled. 

"Louis-"

"Hush." His husband silences Harry's interruption with another kiss, a chaste union of their lips. "Do you have to work?"

Harry can only dumbly shake his head, his eyes glued like magnets to Louis' oceanic mirrors. He hates being disarmed by this beauty yet Louis seems to be the only one who ever could. 

"Then come join me in the garden." Louis beckons, linking their fingers. Their shared posssessiveness of the other is breathtaking and blinding.

  
* * * * *  


The storm hit sooner than anyone in the mansion predicted. Louis was seemingly the only occupant to not be made aware that a thunder storm was headed for their part of land. He had been left to his own devices by Harry, who had work to get done. Night fell quickly over the treetops that cast horrid shadows on the prickly, dry grass. Louis knew better than to fear his own imagination.

When the first signs of rain began to fall, Louis scooped Snow off the muddy ground and crept through the bushes. He will never tell Harry that he wavered from the path selected for him, leading to a trip beyond the mansion fences.

"Damn it." He muttered hatefully when he narrowly avoided a stab to his ankle by a vengeful rose tree. 

Rain pounded on his back and Louis raced across the courtyard to the old dining room windows. They were all locked along with the doors and no amount of banging seemed to catch anyone's attention. Louis didn't allow the fear that throttled his mental stability to overrule him, and he stuck to the edge of the house as he searched for someone. 

Thunder roared and lightning clapped above his head, sleets of stinging rain bruising his skin. Goosebumps were frozen onto his arms and neck, hair stuck to his head by the weight of water. Louis continually wiped his eyes free of water before clambering onto the platform outside Harry's study window.

His husband was there and Louis felt relief like nothing else. He heard the storm raging a personal war on him, icing his insides and uprooting his calm. A fear of storms was completely logical but Louis had to soldier on. 

"Harry!" He slammed his fist onto the cold glass and at once got a response.

Their eyes met through the frosty air of outside and the toasty warmth of Harry's fireplace. The man rose from his chair with a kind of urgency and rushed to the window, yanking the chain open. He held Louis over the broad shelf beneath the panes and hauled his petite, shivering spouse out from under the mercy of grey clouds.

"Louis." He closed the windows after ensuring that Louis was safely in his arms, Snow having run off to get dry. "What happened? Why were you outside?"

Louis first let his quaking fist curl into Harry's shirt and he closed his eyes, body rattled like the storm lived within him. "S-Sorry."

"It isn't your fault." Harry picked Louis up in a comforting cradle and made his way out of the study.

Louis' lips were blue and his skin was immensely pale, page white even. Harry felt fear and dread upon seeing his lovely husband this way, marching up the stairs to their bedroom.

"Rose!" He bellowed through the nearly empty mansion. 

"Yes, Master?" A faint reply came after the _swoosh_ of the kitchen door.

"Make soup and something warm for Louis to drink." He ordered callously, disappearing behind the threshold of their bedroom.

Harry carried Louis, the boy whose wet condition was drenching his own clothing, to the bathroom. He didn't care about nudity or the fact that they hadn't done more than kiss like fools under the dimly lit staircase. He didn't _care_ because Louis was cold and needed care. 

"Wait- no." Louis tried to stop Harry from peeling off his shirt and unbuttoning his shorts. "Harry-"

"I am your husband." Harry held Louis' wrists away from where he worked and set the boy on the counter. He looked straight into those marvellous blue eyes. "If anyone has this responsibility and right, it's me."

Harry didn't hear a single argument from Louis after he kissed the boy's forehead. He let the tub fill with hot water and got Louis down to his underwear, raving mad within himself on whether he'll _survive_ going further. Louis is still shaken up, still ghostly pale with blotches of pink and purple from the violent rains.

Louis closed his eyes when Harry shut off the tap and came closer to him, fingers roaming around the waistband of his underwear. He winced when his husband's thumbs slipped beneath the elastic, cautiously dragging it down his legs until it's a sopping wet pool at his ankles.

"It's alright." Harry whispers to him, littering kisses behind Louis' ear and below it. "Only I will ever see this."

"Will you-" Louis had to pause to swallow his stutter. "-get in the w-water with me?"

Harry hesitated for no more than a heartbeat. "If you wish that, you will have it."

"I want you to." Louis' eyelids lift to reveal the marbles of his crystal baby blues, full blast as they paralyse Harry's resistance. "Please."

"Of course, _macushla_. Of course."

Harry doesn't let Louis climb into the water. He picks the boy up and gingerly lays him down in the most comfortable manner. Once Louis sits back against the porcelain lip of the claw foot tub with his knees to his chest, Harry wastes a minute in going to retrieve the food for him. He returns with a tray of chicken soup, golden toasted bread and a steaming mug of tea. 

"What's that?" Louis enquires, avidly diverting his gaze from concentrating on anything near Harry's now nude form.

The water level rises as his husband gets in with him. Louis admires the light pink complexion that has returned to his fingers and the warmth that pooled in his belly from the water. 

"For you." Harry finally answers, sitting across from him. "You need to warm up."

Louis takes the bowl of chicken soup in both hands because of its girth and pouts. 

"What is it?" Harry knew exactly what it was but he wanted Louis to ask for help. 

They spent an hour in the tub together, Harry serving as the instrument to hold Louis' bowl of soup while he dipped in bits of bread and fed himself. Louis saved the tea for last when he risked burning his tongue and asked Harry to test it first. 

"I have a husband and an infant." Harry mocked him but obeyed nonetheless, happy to do so when Louis hasn't moved from his lap in a while.

Louis giggled, cheeks bright pink and lips once more their healthy bubblegum red shade. Harry's already tasted them here thrice. "Are you going to call me baby?"

Harry chuckled against Louis' temple, a relaxing crescendo of a raspy edge. "Would you like me to?"

"What would you like?" Louis framed his mug of tea, half submerged by the water. He leaned against Harry's bare chest. 

"Unfortunately, my little Louis, all the things I desire involve you. I cannot have any of them at this time."

Louis tilted his head back. "Why not?"

Harry smiled but there was a fleeting moment that passed through his eyes that stunned Louis. It held a promise. His husband's lips found Louis' pulse and clavicle, leaving both patches of skin laden with impulsive kisses. He took Louis' hand and kissed each fingertip, caught his leg and circled Louis' knee with the same treatment.

"You're so sentimental." Louis points out after he is convinced that the heat in his cheeks are going to burn him from his chest. His blush is relentless.

"Hmm." The man hums, back at the task of kissing a wavering trail up Louis' neck. He smirked at the sudden shivers he could feel against his lips. "Only for you, baby."

  
* * * * *  


Two days later, Louis is learning a new recipe from Rose. He wanted to master the culinary craft of making pasta from scratch and to surprise Harry when his husband woke up. Harry had an extra rough time of sleeping last night and sweated through three shirts, bruised Louis' hips with how terribly tight his grip became and choked himself awake with all the blood that accumulated on his tongue.

Louis begged Rose to call a doctor from in the town and get Harry to take some tablets that would knock him out. His husband resisted and argued but was too exhausted to deny Louis when the boy slowly crawled onto his lap and kissed him. 

Now Harry slept like a drunken baby upstairs in their bedroom with only slight winces in his slumber. Louis joined Rose in the kitchen and was partially complete with the sauce for his pasta when a commotion from without the room scared him. 

It sounded like shouting and the shattering of a vase. Rose made him stay put while she went out to investigate, Jack lingering by Louis' side just in case. 

"Sure it's nothin'." Jack nodded at the boy, wiping his forehead with a rag. 

The door was recently greased and swung three rounds on its rusty hinges before sealing. This allowed Louis his first glimpse into the foyer. It most certainly is not nothing if the words he gathers from the broken argument is anything to go by. 

There's the scene between Harry, flickering images as the door comes to a halt. His arm is flailing and he's basically hanging off the wooden post at the base of the steps. He is shouting profanities and abuse at Alfie, the latter male is cowering from his vile Master. Louis hears the echo of Harry's insults.

_"Where- he?! Little- Bring him here!"_

Louis frowns at all the cuss words and dumps his cloth down on the counter to go out there. Harry was obviously drained and in a fit, something whoever his intended victim was didn't need to face. He hasn't seen this rage from his husband in almost a month.

He makes it out into the foyer before Jack can stop him and sidesteps the frightened servants before Rose can do so. Louis takes in his unyielding mad man of a husband sneering at everything yet not looking at any one thing. His untrained, beady red eyes scanned the room and Louis saw something in them he was afraid of. 

"Where is he?!" Harry shouted, rattling the windows and stepping down to the ground from the steps. 

Louis had to get him back into bed before Harry went so far as to shed blood. "Love?"

Rose grabbed his elbow and Alfie looked at him positively terrified, but their warnings were too late. Harry's head snapped in Louis' direction like he _sensed_ the boy and his expression was etched in anger, his lips bloody and neck bulging.

"Come here." Is all the man said, raising his head and puzzling Louis when he didn't make exact eye contact.

Louis stepped up to him carefully, concerned for his erratic and unnerved husband. "Are you okay?"

Harry grabbed Louis' arm when he felt it brush his chest. He immediately made Louis flinch from how deathly the grip was. "What the fuck did you give me?!"

"What?" Louis arched away from Harry's screaming. He didn't try to retract his hand yet.

His confusion is spun on a spindle until it pricks his mind. Louis gives all the gathered servants a nod of dismissal before turning back to his seething spouse. 

"Harry." He whispers in the man's ear when Harry seems to falter, his will melting when Louis cradles his jaw. "Look at me, love. What's wrong?"

Harry is distracted by every little squeak, his mind pulled taut by the tiniest interruptions. He looks _mad_ and Louis jumps with a shameful squeal when something as tough as leather encircles his waist. It's strong and tense, coiling like a whip and strangling his middle.

His hold turns jittery and his eyes grow wide with the dawn of realisation, lips quivering as he bows his head. Louis takes in the appendage around him, a jet black tail that's stealthy and _binding_ in its elegant nature. He feels the colour drain from his face and his brain go numb, his body turning ice.

"Oh." He breathes, chest heaving against Harry's. _"Oh God-"_

"You did this?" Harry crosses his arm over Louis' back and fights with himself on whether or not to embrace the boy. "You brought this back?"

"No, Harry!" 

"I know." Harry whispers brokenly, his voice like shattered glass. "Whatever that doctor gave me-"

Louis felt Harry's _damned tail_ tighten and lift his shirt a little, his skin exposed to the rush of cold air. He leans into his husband at the same time that Harry depends on him, an exchange of support. Harry breathes like a chased animal down Louis' neck, causing goosebumps to surface.

He _hated_ the history that brought back this aspect of himself. A night he spent slicing through his own flesh, watching himself bleed until he thought he was surely going to die, was so simply reversed. Harry will have that doctor dead if it's the only thing he does for the day.

Feeling that agile weight was also _reassuring_ as much as it was traumatising. It's an old part of himself, one that was slaughtered after being repetitively mutilated. He was meant to have this presence that he had to cut off in agony, but now that it's back it felt like an alien.

"It's fine, Harry." Louis promises him. He can feel Harry's lips dragging red streaks over his skin and the man's sticky skin embracing him incredibly tight. "This doesn't change anything."

Harry nudges Louis' cheek until he gets his kiss, a languid union of their lips that's messy and requires Louis to wipe his mouth afterwards. He still smiles for his slightly insecure husband to see, pecking Harry's jaw thrice. There's swelling beneath the skin of his cheek and Louis sighs because Harry is so stubborn.

"I told you to sleep with your gauze." Louis thumbs gently over the risen bit of flesh. "It's only going to hurt more."

Harry doesn't understand. He wants Louis to talk about this new addition feature of his, coupled with the one he still hasn't revealed to the boy. "What?"

"Come on." Louis took Harry's hand and made to move towards the staircase, struck dumb by the _tail_ around him. "Um....- Harry?"

He waits awkwardly under Harry's arm while the tail that's belted around him falls loose. It's jet black quality is marred by the cracks in skin, odd slits in a charred surface. Louis can see the raw flesh beneath and he doesn't dare touch it, while it recoils to Harry's own waist. Despite not having it for years, the man was at ease with how to handle it already.

"It doesn't scare you?" Harry follows Louis up the stairs with their hands joined conveniently. 

"What?" Louis asks casually, remaining a step ahead of his confused other half. 

"This." Harry watches Louis go stiff at the spine when he let's his reclaimed tail brush the boy's back. Its pointed tip grazes Louis' skin like a blade meant to warn, not harm.

"No." Louis answers after a moment. He leads Harry down the hallway to their bedroom. "It's just another part of you, love."

Harry watches Louis with intent admiration. The boy is straightening up their sheets again after Harry disturbed them for the hundredth time. "You won't become afraid of it?"

"Depends." Louis dumps an array of pillows at the head of the bed. 

"On what?" Harry raises his eyebrows, curious for an explanation. "What does it depend on?"

Louis giggles as he approaches his mentally muddled husband and kisses his cheek lightly. "Do you intend to frighten me with it?"

Harry starts to shake his head, pauses and clears his throat. "No."

"Come lie down." Louis urges him with a yawn of his own. If Harry didn't sleep then Louis wouldn't sleep when he needed to. "I'll bring you warm milk if you want."

While Louis fidgets with his fringe and contemplates the repurcussions of leaving the room, he feels that muscular band snake around the dip of his hips again. He gasps from the heated contact on his bare skin where his shirt rode up, and flinched from how coarse the tail was.

It tugged on him and Louis obeyed from mere anxiety. He hasn't seen let alone touched a tail before so he had no idea how to act around them. Harry met his eye, impassive and encouraging from his position on the bed. Louis let the tail hang off his waist when he rolled his eyes and crawled over to his dissatisfied husband.

"Lay with me." Harry spoke softly when Louis settled down against him, his arm locked around the boy's shoulders. 

"I was cooking." Louis smothered his mindless shudders when Harry's tail slid across in a loop around his hips, dipping to curl around his thigh. He was imprisoned. "Cooking for you."

"I apologise for interrupting." Harry sniffed against the cold bite of the air and turned his face into Louis' neck.

Louis giggled and shook his head. "No you're not."

  
* * * * *  


"Is it done?" He sat in a chair by the window, staring out through the aluminium platform.

The doctor dumped his leather case by his operating table and rubbed his temple in regret. "He's going to find out."

"Yes he is." The newcomer responded with a sound nod, turning away from the view of roofs and shops. "But he isn't going to know it's me. Tell me about his....groom."

"He's made progress is softening your brother." The doctor sat down, mournful and visibly tired. "Master lashes out at everyone except him."

With an unsettling smirk, two afire red orbs settled on Louis' photo. He was with Rose in the garden, trying to decide with rose was best suited to pester Harry with. "It is easy to admit that my brother found a beautiful companion."

The doctor nodded but he was distracted, waking up from his seat to pace. His aged mind could hear the guards already coming for him.

"I suppose I should get in there before the security tightens up." The estranged individual woke up and entirely revealed himself as Harry's mirror image, a forgotten twin. His tail roped around his arm like a demonic whip and he released the tie that held his hair back. "You've done me a favour and I am grateful."

"Yes, yes." The doctor muttered. "You must be careful, Edward."

He looked at the thoughtless doctor with an irritated scowl. He was obviously being disregarded for whatever worries plagued the old professional. Before leaving, his tail unfurled and dragged across the doctor's neck. Its sharp end pierced the wrinkled man's jugular so that red splattered across the walls, the operating table he saved lives on.


	7. Chapter Seven.

**_[A/N: PLEASE READ. HI. I understand that a few of you are finding it difficult to put a face to Harry's character here and I'm sorry but I don't have an edit or anything (Photoshop hates me) to help out. If anyone wants to help me conjure one up, message me please :) For now, I'm so sorry for this but the clearest description I have is in the first chapter, should you need that aid. Next, I also had war flashbacks when I decided to name a new character Edith. Second, now most of you will understand the infidelity warning/tag. I will do my best to not take it too far, as this will NOT be a polygamy fic like some of my others. You do me a great honour by allowing my works to inspire the inner writer in you. Affecting one person or one million, I feel like I've finally done some good here. Thank you, thank you, thank you. - S xx]_ **

Harry woke up to being beaten.

He opened his eyes to a dull morning after sleeping for over twelve hours when his mind and body agreed that its newest change was much too traumatic. His muscles were well rested and he felt ready to run a marathon, but there was the violent addage of a pillow pounding on his face.

"Wake up." Louis' angelic voice filtered through Harry's early morning haze.

His two small feet were planted on either side of Harry, under his arms and digging into their mattress. He has propelled three sleeping pillows down toward his husband from where he stood as a looming threat above him. Harry blinked warily and smirked up at his perfectly petite husband, a squinting figure above him.

"You're too far for me to taste you, baby." He spoke in a voice so scratchy that it irritated his own throat. With callous fingers, he reached up and scratched his neck. "Come down here."

Louis' weight fell onto his chest and Harry was _more than happy_ to die in that instant. The boy sat conveniently on his torso, thighs framing Harry's chest and his legs folded under the man's arm pits. He had a bone to pick with his brutish spouse, but Harry looked so helpless and restful. 

He knew just how irritable Harry's throat became every morning when he slept sans his gauze. This pity led to Louis reaching out and taking over the task of scratching the man's stubble neck. He knew the spot that hurt most and mastered the art of using the perfect amount of pressure.

"You swore when you were calling for me earlier?" Louis watched Harry's blackened eyelids close and sighed. He was aware how comfortable this position was for Harry. "Harry, wake up."

His husband growled beneath his body and frowned in his blurry slumber state. "Possibly. Who informed you of this?"

"Doesn't matter." Louis leaned over to their cluttered night stand and located Harry's gauze. He tapped the man's chapped lips. "Open up."

Harry cracked one sadistically bloody eye open, a smirk teasing his cloudy lips. "Am I getting a taste of you?"

"You're so weird." Louis slotted the plastic gauze into its correct position and kissed his husband as a reward for just being him. 

He smiled into it and let his hands slide across Harry's front - he was shamelessly a fan of the man's abs - to his broad shoulders. The return affection came in the form of Harry's large paws groping his bottom, a feat that he hasn't been able to stop. Louis giggled when Harry bit his bottom lip and cuddled into his chest.

"Don't swear me again." Louis pokes Harry's chest and although he said everything in a lighthearted way, Harry knew not to repeat the vulgarity.

"I apologise, _macushla_." Harry kissed Louis' lips once more and settled back against his pillow.

"Oh." Louis gasped with a little peep when he felt that familiar muscle slithering around his waist. 

Harry's tail is still new to them both but Harry's already so functionally renewed and accustomed to it. He has been asleep for many hours but Louis still felt it extend towards him in a reflex, curl around his thigh or waist like a leash. It had its own agenda to keep Louis as close to Harry as possible.

He let the sharpened tip come to a rest on his hip and relaxed. The entire tail was heavy with agility and muscle, the pronged blade at the tip even more threatening.

"I can tell you're happy to have it back." Louis sits his chin on Harry's pectoral. He smiles when he meets his husband's eye. "I'm happy too."

Harry met his gaze with pride and satisfaction. He was silently thrilled that Louis seemed to be fine with this part of him, unconventional as it may be. His husband has grown to be a very _important_ part of his life and wants to please him in any way that he can.

The muscle that's a new appendage rooted to the small of his back, was a firm reminder of who Harry was and who he's become. The distinction he established between those times unnerved him, as he realises how the scared man with his own blood on his hands became the single most powerful leader of the new world.

Nonetheless, there is this lovely little figure planted on his chest to help him forget every worry he's ever had. Harry could move mountains all day and cut down villages but when he walked into the sanctity of their bedroom, he was nothing more than a slave to his petite husband. With those mesmerising baby blues and glistening wedding ring, Harry was powerless to Louis.

"Hey." Louis suddenly sat up with his bare hands planted on Harry's chest, his lips contorted into an expression of avid curiosity. 

Harry smirks like the devil at his husband, licking his dry lips like he often did when he wanted Louis to _succumb_. "What?"

"Did you.....-" Louis captures his lip between his teeth, abdomen twisting with guilt and intrigue. "Did you get your um- _you know_ -"

"Horns?" Harry finishes for him. 

A whole half month with this frustratingly attractive boy that's full of rejection towards Harry's advances, and Harry knows him like a book. He doesn't recall wanting to be this fond of or close to Louis but here he was, a man obsessed. Louis, in his awfully short pants and often loose shirts, has stolen what self control he once used to control his territory.

"Well um- Yeah." He has the most breathtaking blush on his cheeks, flexing his fingers on Harry's shoulders. 

Harry knew that he had and wanted to have a look at them himself properly besides his brief peek at a mirror. He sighed and locked his arms under his head. "Why don't you answer that for yourself, _macushla_?"

Louis giggles, a truly magical sound, and let's his weight fall forward so he's lying across the length of his husband. He bumps his nose with Harry's and braces his hands on the man's bony wrists, their faces a hair's breath apart. He extends his arms upward to Harry's constantly unruly hair. 

"You just want me to feel you up." Louis scoffs irregularly and entangles his fingers in the mess of curls atop Harry's head. 

Harry stole a kiss to Louis' cheek because the expanse of supple, baby soft skin was right there for the taking. "I will admit to seizing every opportunity to have your hands on me."

Louis blushes impossibly redder and his thumbs gravitate towards the spot of skin that's effortlessly toughened to the sheer protruding bone. "Wow."

"Hmm." Harry smiles, feeling content than he has in years, and leans into Louis' touch. "Do you like them?"

With a swollen upper lip from gnawing religiously on it, Louis inspects the skin that's hardened to the roughest surface of exposed bone. He drags himself a little bit upward and visibly investigates newest phenomenon. It's not an entirely pleasant sight when he remembers that the filed down remnants of Harry's original horns had to be grown over. 

Harry's scalp is pink, bruised and crusty with dried blood from cut skin. Louis pouted when he saw the poor state of his husband's skin. He studies the actual horns for a moment longer. The pale brown, point-tipped horns with dents around the base. They're a even space apart and stout, easily hidden amongst Harry's curls.

"They're...-" Louis licks his lips and falls back again, cuddling against his reluctant husband. "I like them."

"Good." Harry's arm restricted his shoulders and squeezed. "They're not going anywhere, my little Louis."

Harry hated to waste any more time in bed than was entirely necessary under normal circumstances, and was now methodically restless. He woke up from the rumpled sheets and discarded pillows after Louis did. A shower was due to him as the touch of his skin was mildly sticky with sweat residue, his jaw a little crippled from wary sleep.

"Did you sleep with your gauze?" Louis asked from where he's perched casually on the table by the window. 

His husband distractedly shook his head after dumping some choice clothes on the bed. It was evident that the Master of the house was groggy from sleeping for more hours than he's used to. Louis found it endearing to watch big bad Harry scratch the back of his neck and yawn into his fist. 

"Need some help?" He offered sweetly, swinging his legs over the edge of the table.

Harry met his eye with a wink. "I'm fine, Louis."

He started to undo the knot on his sleeping pants and Louis rushed out of the room faster than Harry could chuckle. Louis padded down the hallway after closing the door to their bedroom, and made his way to the staircase. He's been awake for hours more than Harry and needed to get some food in his belly before he starved.

Rose was in the kitchen whipping up Jack's coffee while Jack made the scrambled eggs for her. Louis admired their relationship because at its core, it had to be the purest marriage with amusing antics just piled on. He saw a grilled cheese sandwich on the table and snatched one half up, munching happily while he sauntered around the kitchen. 

"Hi." He greeted for the second time today, propping his chin up on Rose's hunched shoulder. She always smelt like scented talcum powder and Vaseline. 

"Master is awake?" She asks him, preparing a second mug of coffee. 

"Yup." Louis leaned against the sink and finished his sandwich. "He's fine, before you ask."

Jack huffs out a laugh from where he's removing the frying pan from the hot stove. "Sure?"

"Aha." Louis knew that everyone in the house cared for Harry. He was a good man under all his darkness and earned the loyalty of so many servants. "He's hungry though."

"That man has a beast's appetite, I swear." Rose mutters with a smile on her lips. She sets a third mug down and fills it to the brim with just black coffee.

Louis watches her go to the fridge and get out some ingredients for the Harry specific portion of breakfast. He felt a little guilty when he reminisced about knowing Harry not well enough to ever cook for him. They've been on unorthodox dates where Louis cooked but it was never Harry's routined meals, like Rose knew how to make.

"Rose?" He speaks up from the sink, dusting his hands on his shorts. 

"Yeah, hun." She answers from her stove plate, placing a grill pan on the bright pink flames.

"Can you teach me to make....Master's food?" Louis asks, creeping up next to her with his big doe eyes full of hope and persuasion. "Please?"

Rose resigns her argument short after Louis hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek. She made him get the potatoes and eggs from the pantry, the black pepper and oil. Louis is greatly intrigued by all these ingredients and how they're going to work together.

"He eats odd meals, sugar." She tells him once the bacon is out and she's laying five strips out on a chopping board.

"Oh okay." Louis sucks his bottom into his mouth and pays grave attention to Rose's actions.

She makes him cut the bacon strips into small bits. Louis puts them in a bowl with the crushed black pepper and salt while waiting for the stove to heat up. Rose peels the potatoes and Louis chops them into cubes, sufficient for eating two at a time.

"What if he doesn't like it?" Louis asks, worrying the inside of his cheek as concern dawns on him.

"Hun, any man who has you for a partner won't have to worry." She winks at him reassuringly. 

Louis puts the potatoes into the frying pan and watches them turn golden, before Rose sets another pan down for the eggs. He is given some herbs and the bacon to pop in with the potatoes while the eggs turn a little brown at the edges and their yolks stand out like they glisten.

"That's a lot of food." Louis turns his nose up at all that Harry eats. How can one man stomach all this?

Rose just laughs and dumps the fresh greens into Louis' frying pan. She stirs it around and drizzles some olive oil before sliding the eggs onto the heap. The smell is conflicting yet delectable and Louis' shoulders sag in exhaustion. 

"That's a lot of work." He comments once it's all done and he's given a plate of the food to take to Harry.

"It is." Rose nods and nudges him out of the kitchen with a swat on his bottom. "Get movin'."

Louis balances the heavy plate and Harry's mug of bitter coffee while walking across the foyer. He smiles at Alfie before reaching the study doors and pushing them open with his hip. They're heavy enough to exert a returning force on him until he pushes through the small crack.

"Hey, love." Louis greeted the figure by the fireplace. 

Harry's study is always cosy for him. The carpet under the grand table was soft and plush. Harry's chair was close to a throne where it sat beside a roaring fireplace, the crackle of its flames serving as a humble grounding. The mantel was littered with porcelain ornaments and a clock right in the middle, another ticking of which Louis liked to hear.

He saw Harry by the fireplace, standing over it with his arm braced against the shelf above. The role of his tail was occupied by looming in the air, stricken by something. His hunched shoulders and back were slightly bent over, favouring the fire in his intimidating presence.

Harry turned around when the fire's towering flames bored him and he met Louis' eye from across the table. Briefly, his gaze darted to the food and coffee but he ignored them. Louis felt a little chilly under Harry's stare, in a new way than before.

"Breakfast." Louis announces with a noisy clatter of utensils as he set the food down. "I made it almost by myself. Unless you don't like it, then it's all Rose's fault."

He smiled a dazzling grin at his husband and brushed his fringe back. Harry's clothes were questionable but someone made the hairs on the back of Louis' neck prickle and he didn't say anything. With all the activity outside their territory and Harry's uneasiness about the doctor who recently did injustice by him, there's an explanation for his unease.

Harry's gaze was nonetheless a new shade of frightening while it tried to subdue itself. Louis heard the footsteps of his husband like strikes of thunder and tried not to jump when the gap between them finally closed. _Maybe_ he's driving himself a little crazy, because he has something important to say.

"Sweet boy." Hands settled on his shoulders and Louis released a exhale of relief. They felt familiar and warm yet at the same time held a twinge of something uncivil. "Why are you so afraid?"

"Not afraid." He pointed out rebelliously, giggling when he looked up and Harry's eyebrow was raised to taunt him. The red of eyes were fiery and unmistakably brighter than usual. "Nice clothes by the way."

All black wasn't Harry's signature. Pin-striped silk black shirt certainly wasn't, but Louis wasn't saying he didn't like it. The contradicting style was highly attractive against Harry's porcelain skin.

"Thank you." Harry leaned down a bit and rested his forehead on Louis', a small bark of laughter leaving his lips. It was abrupt and a little electrifying. "Did you sleep well, lovely?"

"All these names you have for me." Louis looked up and felt paralysed in a daunting fashion, his fingers looped around the lapels of Harry's shirt. "I might turn schizophrenic."

Harry's gaze hardened to something beautifully tragic. His hands on Louis' hips tightened until they threatened to bruise. "I apologise."

Louis forgave him in the act it took for him to get up on his tiptoes, and affectionately nuzzled the man's neck. The flushed, warm skin felt coarser than usual but Louis surpassed that thinking entirely. He waited for Harry's hands to lower even further, as his husband took every chance to grope him. Louis' height disadvantage gave him plenty of opportunities.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Louis asked when those hands didn't do as he secretly wished. 

"I will." Harry's lips attach to Louis' forehead and he kisses the smooth skin that's tempting to everyone who touched it. "I have something to discuss with Alfie first. Sit here and wait for me, lovely."

After one more kiss that edges on the corner of his mouth. He smiles at the sweet yet rough brush of his husband's lips on his, and his stubbly jaw scraping his cheek. Harry leave him after gracefully kissing his knuckles and releasing him from his intense stare only once they're far enough apart.

Louis' skin crawls in a delicious way that leaves him blushing _everywhere_ as he plays with his own fingers nervously. He settles into Harry's throne of a chair with his legs crossed and cheeks heated. Two minutes he's alone before the study doors open again and Harry returns to him.

His husband is partially occupied with the bunch of papers in his hand, all for his reading and initialing. Harry's shirt isn't there anymore, his chest exposed entirely as he walks closer to Louis. His jeans have a broad belt around his hips and the black leather fabric clings sinfully to his muscular build.

Harry has an attractive frown on his brow that Louis has under appreciated for all this time. The stretch of his abs and hardened pectorals flexes with each step he takes or movement of his arms. Louis sits up attentively in Harry's throne when his husband is nearer, and he can capture his attention.

"Hi again." He kneels on the plush red cushion and grins sheepishly when Harry comes to notice him.

"Hello." Harry dumps the papers on the table and frames Louis' face for a much earned kiss, his dire need leaking into their connection. 

Louis' lips always taste like coffee and strawberries, his smile so gentle when it's carved out against Harry's mouth. His cool fingertips curl around Harry's forearms as the kiss gets a little out of hand for such a morning hour. Harry bites Louis' lip and pulls away with his husband pouting sadly, his blazing blue eyes just opening. 

"What happened to your shirt?" Louis licks his lips courageously to scrape the remnants of Harry's taste off them. 

The man sat in his seat only after Louis shuffled out of it. "The shower made my skin a little stiff. Chose not to wear it."

Louis wonders what made him wear a shirt but decide to change it afterwards, even if the water did make him uncomfortable. "Oh alright."

Harry picks up his fork and returns to his frail documents while he eats, shovelling mouthfuls in a manner that's slightly obnoxious. Louis' come to respect that some bits of Harry's unique personality comes from a barbaric root, and cannot be removed. He waits for Harry to finish eating, picking at the pages of a random novel he isn't even paying mind to.

"So?" He clears his throat when his husband merely shoves the barren plate away and mulls over the paperwork again. _"Harry."_

Deepset red eyes flicker over to him, one exposed while the other is masked by the papers in Harry's hand. The corner of his mouth twitches into a smirk, one that's brimming with amusement and fondness.

"Yes, _macushla_?" Harry spoke up in a crisp voice, his mind-numbingly seductive tone messes with Louis' concentration. 

Louis crosses his legs and leans forward, clasping his ankles. "Did you like your breakfast?"

Harry sets his papers down and laces his nimble, pale fingers together on the table. "Is there something special about it you'd like me to comment on, my little Louis?"

Sticking his bottom lip out like an irritable child, Louis shoves his heavy wooden chair away from under him. He stumbles over to Harry and plants himself on the man's lap without a care, landing on his husband's thighs. His back is instantly secured by two large, reassuring palms that skim repeatedly over his skin. 

"I made it for you." He whispers secretly, their foreheads together and his arms banded tightly around the man's neck. 

His smile mirrors Harry's and he angles his head to the side for a quick kiss that lasts longer than he predicted. Harry clasps his lovehandles the way he holds onto things he's _obsessed_ with, and runs his tongue along the seam of Louis' lips. He tastes the roof Louis' mouth and momentarily battles with Louis' tongue for complete dominance.

"Finest taste in the world." Harry's hand grips Louis' jaw and chin, licking over his tantalising cherry lips. He refrains any responses from Louis by capturing the boy's lip and sucking relentlessly on it until it swells up. 

Louis whimpers from the stir of something _blissfully new_ in the pit of his belly. His nails dig into Harry's shoulderblades and he slowly arches his neck backward so that the man's sinful mouth can move to his throat. Teeth scrape it Adam's Apple and hands imprison his wrists and pin them to his back.

He hasn't felt this out of control in his entire life. His body shudders like it feels the burden of a storm as well as the power of it. The surface of his skin burns with goosebumps and his abdomen clenches with what can only be identified as arousal. 

"Harry. Harry, oh- _Harry._ " Louis brokenly resists when Harry's hands plant themselves on his posterior, cupping the firm flesh. Canines sink into his jugular and Louis whines in an excellently high pitch. 

Harry breathes in Louis' scent and revels in his feeling, his softness. There hasn't been a taste on his tongue for as long as he can remember yet somehow the sweetness from honeyed skin still intoxicates him. "You're going to ruin me. You're going to make me beg until I'm not a man anymore."

Louis has to remain true to his morals. He has to _hear_ from Harry what is most vital for him to give in to his baser urges. All this time with Harry and he _needs_ to allow his mind to let go so his body can take over. There have already been moments when he almost entirely released his inhibitions and let Harry crawl on top of him for more than cuddling, but he must know there are feelings being reciprocated.

"Harry, please." He covers the evasive man's mouth with his hand and whimpers audibly when all his husband does is suck two of his fingers into his mouth. His tongue runs dry like his throat closes around the words he must speak. "Harry, listen to me."

To prove that he is, Harry hugs Louis to his chest and pants unevenly into the boy's neck. "You have my attention, my little Louis."

Louis combed his fingers through Harry's curly locks and kisses the man's temple to comfort his husband. The new and threatening tips of Harry's horns press into his cheek so he kisses both as a reflex. He sniffs and feels his lip quiver to reflect his quaking spine when Harry's terribly agile tail snakes its way around his waist. It tightens like the owner feels as if Louis is going to leave, a crime that cannot be allowed.

"I care about you. A lot, Harry." Louis whispers into the man's neck, breath shaky. "Do you care for me as well?"

Harry growls in a way that's possessive and possessed. He smothers Louis' silhouette with his arms and kisses up his neck. "If I didn't, would you leave me?"

Louis complains with a gradual and strangled noise from the depths of his chest. He digs his nails into Harry's nape and connects their gazes so they're both enchanted. "Don't, Harry. Don't tease me now."

The arms that engage his waist in an impenetrable cage of regal standard, shift Louis so that he is cradled more suitably. Such a beauty ought to be protected, kept precious and safe. Harry cupped Louis' cheek and looked right into those piercing blue marbles, the only antidote to subdue the bloody storm in his own eyes.

Every feeling, ever sensation got mixed up and thrashed in his mind so that the chaos was explicitly displayed by his red orbs. Louis touched him and that all died, all the festivities of a tempest. Harry could only think blue eyes and chestnut fringe, the smallest curve at the base of Louis' tummy. 

"I care about you." Harry brands his vows into Louis' neck with wet kisses that come with the steam of passion. "I share my bed with you. I hold you and I don't intend to ever stop. _I care about you_ , baby."

Louis hears all this and sniffles with a lot of fondness crowding his mind. He bridges any remaining gaps there may lie between him and Harry, by leaning in and sealing their mouths together. It's an epic kiss that's warm and scorching, enveloped in gentility yet cascading in the brutality of a storm.

It brings joy and undeniable gratification to his heart when Louis hears the admittance of affection. He giggles into their sloppy kiss and grumbles when Harry nips punishingly at his tongue. The wind is swept out from beneath him when Harry stands, dropping him onto the table. Their kiss doesn't pause or break for a moment while Harry covers Louis' body with his, memorising the arch of his husband's back with his hands.

Louis takes Harry's hands when they slip under his shirt and knots their fingers as one, hissing from the rough treatment of his top being rucked up his his collarbone. His husband steps back between his legs to admire the planes of his body. Louis' cheeks burn with self consciousness, a foreign experience for himself.

He has marvellously soft skin with a pale glow to it. His nipples were dusty pink and highly sensitive. Harry's mouth is blindly starved, void of willpower as he dives in and licks a fat stripe across Louis' right nipple. He hitched Louis' thighs up on his waist so that they were off the table, relying on him alone. Louis' hands were misconstrued in his hair, trembling as Harry suckled on his skin.

They've not come this far for all the time that they've known each other. Harry respected Louis' wishes to wait and didn't intend to destroy that accomplishment now. He held Louis' hands because he knew Louis needed to know he was there in mind and body.

His tail slithered underneath Louis' body and entrapped his hips, pinning him to the table. Louis instinctively reached down and listened to Harry's throaty grumble against his chest when he gripped his tail. The skin was searing hot and chapped but Louis likes having it in his hand, such a predatorial and frightening presence that's entirely tamed in his hold.

"You're going to let me have you?" Harry mouthed his drunken words into Louis' neck. 

Louis has thought about this question for the entire time that Harry was asleep last night. He tossed and turned himself until Harry's tail wouldn't let him get up to pace, and he got his answer. They couldn't possibly love each other until mind, body and soul had been looked after by the other partner. 

"Yes." Louis smiled with all the confidence he had and let Harry kiss him hard with the intertwining of their fingers and entangling of their tongues. "Tonight, my love."

Harry gulps down this hope. He revels in Louis' body flush against his as he flattens his spine. Their skin ignites on contact and Harry is caught in a hurricane of sensations, of unshakeable cravings. He wants night to fall now so that he can take Louis for himself. There's nothing in the world he wants more.

"Fuck." Harry gambles with an earth-shattering depraved noise, his pain from waiting disipitating into raw impatience. "Fuck. Fuck. _Fuck._ You're going to let me touch you, baby?"

Louis nods slowly with a shy smile teasing the curl of his lips and a blush colouring his cheeks when Harry encourages him to look up. Their eyes meet and Louis' ease becomes excitement, his heart rabbiting and his fingers folding around the thickest part of Harry's tail. Blue is unearthed as a precious commodity in Harry's protection and the fierce red it's exposed to burns itself to coal from such comfort.

"Yeah." Louis giggles when Harry starts to mindlessly nibble on his bottom lip. "Harry, _stop_."

His husband attacks him with more ruthless nibbles and bites until he can control himself. Harry calms himself with contact from Louis, and let's his body sink into Louis' personal space so they're in one bubble. Louis wraps his legs and arms around Harry to keep him close.

"I care about you." Louis kisses the tip of Harry's nose with a modest smile, one that can cure any ailment. 

Harry's chest rumbled with the intensity of Louis' words touching his demons. "I care about you as well, my little Louis."

  
* * * * *  


Louis is perched on the railing to the balcony watching the sun go down. It was an electric sight, with pink and red waves pulsing out from one brilliant source. The horizon was lit up with a thousand different colours and none were as breathtaking as when they're altogether.

He yawned as he recollected the happenings of his day. A blush crept onto his cheeks from his neck when he remembered Harry this morning, a defiant and dominant presence in his life. His skin still tingled from the man's parting kisses and his tummy was still in knots from where Harry's tail belted around him.

Rose was happy to hear that Harry liked Louis' cooking, although she had the vague suspicion that the man had been persuaded. Louis spent three hours in the stabled brushing Harry's mare down and bathing her with warm soapy water. He spoke to her about lots of things that popped into his mind and watched the smith change the steel of her shoes.

He hasn't seen Harry since the morning because everytime he happened by the study, there was one or more advisors walking out or in. There was obviously a plot underfoot and Louis will ask when the time is right for him to do so. Alfie also informed him after much nagging that a few settlements were being unreasonable towards Harry's bargains.

A knock on the glass of the balcony door interrupted Louis' thoughts. "Yes?"

Boots crunched the blown leaves on his floor and stepped up behind up behind him. Body warmth radiated off this intruder and Louis offered the horizon a coy smile when arms slipped around him. He leaned back against a firm, hard chest and sighed. 

Harry's biceps were hoards of muscle that blocked Louis' peripheral entirely. The aura about him was charged and undeterred. He let his lips seek out Louis' pulse, sharp teeth latched onto that skin and tugged a bit harmlessly. It hurt but Louis learned to appreciate the affection behind pain.

"You were so busy." Louis speaks to the slowly disappearing sun. He holds Harry's arm with both of his. "I didn't want to disturb you."

Harry chuckled a bit lower register and inhaled deeply where his face was tucked into Louis' neck. "You could never disturb me, lovely."

"I missed you." Louis turned his head and kissed Harry's jaw. It felt rougher, more prickly with unshaven facial hair on his frail lips. 

"Hmm- oh lovely." Harry kissed his faint mark away on Louis' neck. "You are a treasure."

Louis has come to weaponize his glossy Mediterranean eyes coupled with the most subtle of pouts. Harry was spineless against his degree of pleading at every turn and Louis knew well enough how to manipulate that. He tossed his head back against Harry's shoulder and sighed, feeling toasty from the inside against the bitter chill of the evening air.

"You're supposed to say you missed me too." Louis hopes to elicit a physical response from Harry when he reaches over and tickles the man's stubble with his fingertips. _"Love."_

Harry bent down and bit Louis' pulse punishingly. He sucked with harsh ferocity until the skin turned bright red like it had been mauled, the victim whimpering with the ache. "I don't need to say it."

Louis tightened his fingers in Harry's hair and tugged to get the man off his neck. He didn't mind all the bites, nips and marking up when it didn't risk blood loss. That was his foul weakness. The teeth on his skin were far less gentle than they usually are, and Louis was prone to easing into new territories with Harry.

The fundamentals of their relationship were loving and full of caresses without it being spoken between them. Louis assumes that Harry's recently discovered alternate treatment of him, the rougher and more sensual attacks on his body, stemmed from the fact that tonight has to be the one that ties them together.

"You're right." Louis basks in Harry's aloof behaviour and holds onto the crook of his neck. 

His eyes close on impulse when Harry's lips continue up the path of his jugular. The damp, divine drag of his mouth makes Louis shiver in his core and butterflies to beat against the insides of his abdomen.

"Can you finish up by six tonight?" Louis asks quietly, his embarrassed smile awfully hidden by his own fist. 

Harry takes a deep breath and let's his territorial tail encircle Louis' hips. "What for, lovely?"

"How dare you forget?" Louis gasps at Harry's playfulness and swats his bicep. It hardly did more than brush the man's muscle and coaxed his own giggles when his target retaliated with a tepid growl. "I want you _all to myself_ as soon as possible."

  
* * * * *  


Louis spends some of sun-down time gathering white roses from the meadow at the same time that he glares at the two guards assigned with the task to accompany him everywhere. He punishes them by making one hold the basket he came with, and dumps rose after rose into it.

"I don't need guards, you know." He informs the other poor companion who follows after him through the clumps of trees and bushes. "I can take care of myself."

"Master's orders."

He's crouched down with Snow at his calf when he spots a dandelion flower. It occurs to him that not many people must have come across such a free spirited flower since the apocalypse as each one cared for survival and not whimsy. He stands up with the stem of this plant cautiously, handing it to the most uptight guard with a buzz cut and a stern frown.

"Blow." He instructs, leaving no room for argument when he closes the man's meaty fist around the flower's flimsy stem. "Go on."

"Uh-" The much older and greatly confused security man regards the fragile object with distaste. "Why?"

Louis sighs and pushes the dandelion up to his mouth. "It will make you feel better."

Two weeks and Louis' blue eyes have won over everyone in the mansion. The guard takes a breath before blowing nervously onto the circular bud, watching the free strokes float away into the night. It brought a type of freedom to the caution and ordinary stiff build of his personality. He looks back down and Louis is smiling warmly.

"Told you." He pats the brute's arm and soldiers past him back onto the mansion's courtyard. "Come on!"

Louis realises that he has no idea how to be romantic when he's left alone with a bundle of pale white roses and scented candles. He groans and contemplates rolling around on the ground to suffer for a bit before gathering himself. 

It's an hour before six when Louis starts muttering complaints to Snow whilst spreading rose petals on the recently tidied bed. His stomach twists and shivers with anxiety, his mind reeling forward to what he's subjecting himself to. He schools that fright with logic, knowing that Harry _cares_ and that letting the man unravel him in one night won't be a regret.

The candles go to odd corners and surfaces in their bedroom, nowhere that could result in a fire hazard. Louis opens the balcony doors just for the gush of earthy breeze that threatened the candles' flames but couldn't extinguish them. The sight made him giddy, excited with superstition. 

He showered and got changed just before the strike of the six o'clock hour spooked him. In the closet, his arms hurried to get into the sleeves of his favourite pastel blue sweater. It's ripped a little at the shoulder and he can't remember where he acquired it but the fabric was always soft and calming, enough to suffocate his nerves. Under the length abdomen of the sweater was Louis' neatest shorts, black denim and folded to stop well above mid-thigh.

A knock on the door makes Louis knock over a candle and cry out from blistering pain. The hot wax fell in a cruel splash over the arch of his foot and stunned him for a moment. He righted the dead candle and ignored a tiny flame that also went out in his chest.

He hops over to the door and swings it open, ready to complain to Harry about absurd candles out to get him. That falls away when Alfie stands to be his guest again. 

Louis sets his throbbing foot down and closes the door a bit against his shoulder, hiding the set-up inside. "Sup, Alfie?"

The servant had opened his mouth the reply but shortcircuited after the slang. He recovered shortly. "Master sent a reminder for you to eat."

"Oh really?" He frowns confusedly, chewing on his lip. 

Alfie nods vehemently, clutching his books and pencil like it's where his lifeline lay. "Master just left and asked the kitchen to make you dinner."

"Okay." Louis stops leaning on the wall. More than one flame in his heart is disengaged. "Where did Master go?"

"Meeting with another settlement. Master should be back in the next two hours, Sir." 

Louis feels disheartened at this new information and nods to dismiss Alfie before shutting the door. He felt like his insides were cloaked in misery and his plans were shot deep into Hell, his heart plummeting with it. It also occurs to him that Harry would not leave unless it was an absolute emergency, something that's become more and more recurring recently.

"He's busy." Louis tells Snow when the puppy finds time to cuddle him. "I hope he's okay. The fool."

  
* * * * *  


Harry made no exceptions when he walked into the negotiation. He was going to be home by eight to be with Louis no matter what came his way in words or war.

The meeting ended swiftly and he left from the regal tent faster than the wind. Up above him the night was forbodingly dark and crackling with discernible omens. He ignored the weight on his shoulders and let a boy take his mare to the stables so he could rush into the mansion.

He took the stairs two at a time and landed in the hallway of the second floor soon. Their bedroom door creaked as he pushed it open to envelope himself in the mass of black and the breeze hitting him squarely in the face. Harry saw the extinguished candles and frowned. The time was still before eight so why would everything be off? 

Even worse yet more beautiful than any entity in the Heavens was Louis' form, fast asleep, under the covers. Harry locked the door and discarded his boots before strolling over to his dozing husband with more admiration than disappointment. He sat on the edge of the bed and studied Louis' pale, gorgeous figure half marred by the comforter. Harry chuckles when he sees the wrinkled, dead rose petals before it dawns on him that Louis fell asleep waiting for him. 

"Oh my little Louis." He leaned in and gave Louis' cheek a well-deserved kiss, passing his honour to the boy. Guilt riddled his mind and festered in his subconscious. 

Louis stirred at the feel of a kiss and slowly let his eyelids open on their own account of laziness. He turned onto his back and took in Harry looming over him, the whole presence of his silly yet noble husband. Those familiar bloody, almond shaped eyes are wide against the threat of blackness as they come closer.

"I'm terribly sorry, my-" Louis picked up a pillow to hit Harry with and that was enough of an attack to silence the man's apologies. "I deserved that, didn't I?"

Louis yawned and dumped the pillow at his side before pushing himself upright. He had the most brilliant features to go with the most pleasant, warm soul. "You did."

Harry took Louis' face in his hands and kissed his husband, tender and long as they both needed it. "How do I redeem myself?"

Louis pouted, a full blast agony-inducing pucker that made any warrior crumble. "I told you to be here at six. Why did you leave me?"

He was also simultaneously freeing his clothed feet from under the covers to plant on Harry's lap. The wild and exaggerated gestures to the faint redness on the arch of his left foot left behind by hot candle wax momentarily distracted Harry's response.

"I-" The man sympathised with his sweet husband and peeled off the stubborn bits of hardened wax from Louis' frail skin. He rubbed the sensitive parts with his thumb to soothe the nonexistent burn. "Did you really tell me six?"

Louis rolled his eyes and nodded. "I did."

Harry frowned and looked down at the other task at hand. Had Louis told him? He has even more reason to feel like a hideous creature at heart and mind for abandoning Louis when he was reminded not to. But despite all this, for the life of himself he cannot remember being told six o'clock.

"Are you sure?" He asks, freeing Louis' leg to kiss his knee. It bugged him that something so _important_ slipped his mind. "I can't recall that, _macushla_."

"Oh." Louis' confusion ebbs when he mentally recounts all the times he got in trouble for forgetting things. "I probably didn't tell you. Sorry."

Harry goes to shower soon after Louis let's him. He doesn't bother with drying his hair and stews all by his lonesome when he's thinking about the decrepit state of his mind. The hot water is not enough with its stinging steam that fogs the tile as he leans on his arm against it. His tail winds a path around his available forearm, twisting and torturing his skin. 

His body was in three tones like his brain was in a million irreplaceable shards. The complexion of his waxy porcelain skin has been scrubbed to pink, the ink of his tattoos only darkening. He hasn't forgotten a thing since birth, not a thing. Why would he forget this? His memory runs through his entire day frame by frame, glitching at any opportunity Louis could have told him.

He retires from his shower when it's been too long away from Louis and puts on his sleep wear. Louis is nearly asleep again by the time Harry puts all the lights off and closes the balcony doors. He smiles dreamily when Harry comes to join him, sensing his husband's turmoil.

"Hey." Louis wiggles and slots himself onto Harry's chest, shuddering at the remarkable heat that comes off Harry's skin. He captures Harry's conflicted expression. "Let it go."

Harry kisses the palm of Louis' hand. "Sincerely, my little Louis, I'm sorry for not remembering."

Louis kisses the man's forehead and then his lips, those numb and tasteless cushions. They've been rubbed raw by Harry's irritation. "Tomorrow. Four o'clock."

Harry's hands find their way by hook or by crook onto Louis' lower back, dangerously close to his behind. They are accompanied by the master of possession that is his tail, the cursed appendage wrapping around Louis' frame. "You have a deal, _macushla_. I will not forget."

"Yay." Louis giggles and pecks Harry's bruised lips again, pulling the covers up to his nose. "I found a dandelion today."

"Hmm." Harry concerns himself with brushing through Louis' hair. His husband used an unidentifiable blend of berry and vanilla, which made him scent irresistible. 

"I haven't seen one of those in......so long." Louis used his fingertip to draw swirls and childish flowers on Harry's chest, cradling his small images in the dip between the man's pectorals. 

Harry kissed the top of Louis' head. "I've seen things more worthy. One of which I get to _keep._ "

**_[A/N: My Instagram is sumans98 if you wanna....yell. Tell a friend :) - S xx]_ **


	8. Chapter Eight.

**_[A/N: Is it difficult to tell Harry from Edward? The hint will always lie in the pet name 'lovely'. I won't be using Edward's name in his scenes so read carefully. - S xx]_ **

Harry woke up with an abrupt and unshakeable feeling of unease. His back was ramrod straight as he jolts upright in bed, glad to see that Louis is a small distance away fast asleep. The images from his drunken nightmares have become more vivid, more detailed as they recalled his past. It's history that he didn't want seen again yet those times wanted him to acknowledge them.

He looked around the room for a moment to ensure that nobody was there, no threat. A silhouette by the billowing curtains caught his eye until he looked again and it was gone. The outline looked like a mirror of himself, except those eyes.....they were less human.

"Fuck." He uttered in self-loathing and turned to face Louis. 

His finger brushed the boy's cheek and he gave that stretch of baby soft, untouched skin a kiss. He is the only man who ever have Louis' affection, he will ensure that dream becomes a reality. Harry's attention for Louis only serves to wake the boy up, causing him to stir with a little mumble.

"What-"

"Shh." Harry smiles and lowers himself back to the mattress, hoping to fall asleep with Louis. 

Louis hates when his husband wakes up for no reason in the middle of the night because he needs his rest, yet is so stubborn about it. There's already one childish member in this marriage, which is Louis' philosophy, and there cannot be another. Louis crawls over to Harry and lays on his chest like a contented feline.

"Go to sleep." Louis commands as he forces his husband to accommodate the added mass of his body and tire out. He kissed Harry's chest once to reassure him as well.

Nonetheless, Harry's nightmares have grown worse. In the matter of one night to the next, Louis is able to make the frightening comparison from awful to terrifying.

Louis' slumber was a blank sleet of a peaceful mind at rest, until he was shaken awake the second time by his husband. Harry was panting and trying to get himself up off his sleeping position where he lay on his front. Sweat dripped down the sides of his face and his arms trembled as they strained in their adjoined efforts to prop him up. 

His husband has never experience a nightly terror so severe that it woke him up without any coaxing from Louis. This bothered Louis immensely and he had to act.

"Love?" Louis groggily dragged himself closer to Harry, settling into the alcove of warmth that the man's arms represent. "What's wrong?"

The weight of his eyelids make his eyes tired and he closes them again before Harry's sweaty self attaches to him. Those ghastly crimson orbs are peeled back and wide open, breathing disarrayed and frantic as he pressed his face into Louis' narrow chest. Harry grumbled something strangled and thoughtless, minding no manners as he tangled his limbs with Louis'.

Harry held Louis with a deathly grip, his tail wrapped so securely around his husband that it had to bruise. He breathed in Louis' comforting scent and allowed it to overpower his weakness, to smother it. 

"You're shaking, my love." Louis kisses up the side of Harry's face comfortingly, hanging off his husband in a desperate way. "Tell me what's bothering you."

It was a plague. First came Harry's nightmares waltzing into his sleep to cripple him with the vivid nightmarish feats. Now it's the festering of his own mental deterioration, the fear that he could actually be _losing his mind._ Weak, it made him feel weak.

Louis held him in the way that took that trouble to a distant land. He could bury his face in Louis' gentle embrace, the crook of his neck where the race of his pulse was most prominent. Louis would never undermine or judge him. 

Harry couldn't possibly sleep again. He was concentrating on the fantasies running around with the demons in his head, the claws dragging along the interior of his skull until it scarred. Louis put a hand at the back of his head, his fingers scraping gentle strokes against his scalp. It soothed the itch but didn't destroy it.

"You don't have to fall asleep again." Louis whispered to him. Some fights weren't worth having with his husband at this ungodly hour. "We can stay awake until the sun comes up, if you want."

Despite the horrors he conducted here and what he will do in the future, Harry must have done something incredible in a past life to deserve this boy. He smiles against Louis' clavicle and sighs breathily, tightening his tail with a stretch around his husband's plump thigh.

If he and Louis had already seen each other utterly nude, touched each other without barrier or reservations, Harry might have taken Louis right in that heartbeat. It will remain a dream until he can make his home between Louis' thighs, hidden so deep that it _ached_ for them both. But he held himself back, because he must be in a sound mind to allow his body a treat like Louis.

"Hey." Louis stripped himself of his sweater and flung it into their faraway closet. "Come on."

He laid back in his palace of pillows and Harry was right there with him, stretched out on top of him to steal that tranquillity. Louis was hauled off the cool sheets and onto Harry's chest, a far better suited spot. That reassuring feel of cracked skin from Harry's possessive tail scratched his bare thigh, the man's hand on his hip. 

Louis cupped Harry's jaw when the latter turned to look at him, stunning blue on haunted red. The combination was turmoil and beauty. "I feel like you'd look good with green eyes."

Harry was amused by the sudden comment, chuckling as he nipped at Louis' thumb. "Thank you, my little Louis."

"What about me?" Louis' freckled button nose scrunched up like he was offended.

"I can't think of a single thing that should be changed about you." Harry said truthfully, circling Louis' shoulders with his arm and kissing the top of his head. 

Louis' puckered lips got a kiss too that he giggled mischievously into. "You're just saying that so you can still get laid." 

Harry broke into a roar of laughter that had his head back in the pillow, the sound so blissfully unlike everything about himself. Louis was pleased to have experienced it and sat up, straddling Harry's abdomen with two hands planted on the man's torso. He waited for Harry to stop laughing, something that didn't end swiftly despite the joke not being exceptionally funny.

"You have no filter, my little Louis." Harry squeezed Louis' hips with both reverent hands and smirks up at the God-like creature on him. "I hope you don't speak this way with anyone else."

"Please, Harry." Louis leaned down to kiss his poor unsuspecting husband before sitting back upright. "I am one person everywhere."

"Yes you are." Harry's tail travelled up Louis' frame to his middle, roping around him restrictively. "That includes the fact that you're _mine_."

Louis acknowledges the statement with a wink. He has grown a little less nervous around Harry's tail and wanted to appreciate it as well. It was a phenomena, a curious genetic abnormality. Louis found the tip on his back and brought it back, inspecting the pointed edge that reflected moonlight. 

It was a jet black, spear-like tip. Louis grazed its bladed edge without cutting himself and giggled when the entire end wrapped around his wrists. "What's this for?"

"You're too curious." Harry released him with a smug expression, the first one in decades. He watches Louis capture his tail, the narrower end, and does little to prevent a shiver from feeling cold hands on him.

Louis noticed and he raised his eyebrow at Harry's sound. "What?"

"A tail is.....sensitive." Harry informs him honestly. He barks out a laugh when Louis squeaks and blushes bright red, releasing his tail. "It doesn't make up the components of our genitalia, _macushla_. Don't be afraid of it."

"Not afraid." Louis chirped, full of life and energy. He could put the Gods and the sun to shame in a heartbeat. 

His husband responded by wiggling to get more comfortable, drawing a groan of discomfort from Harry beneath him. He captured Louis' ankle to keep him still and let his eyes close although sleep eludes him. 

"Harry, are you sleeping?" Louis' voice was right in his ear, warm breath fanning over his neck.

"No." Harry flexed his fingers over Louis' plump posterior and asserted his wakefulness. 

Louis' elbows dug into Harry's chest cavity and really, he shouldn't be such a nuisance when Harry can't put up with nonsense. Except, Harry makes every exception known to man for Louis. He knows that Louis elbowing his ribcage is just for attention and he indulges the boy, arms and tail enclosing his petite frame while his eyes remained closed.

"Harry?" Louis was bored and miraculously wide awake. 

He found an occupation in rubbing Harry's throat where it mistreated the owner most. His nails were short enough with a perfectly smooth edge so that it never stung or scratched to draw blood. 

"Yes?" His husband didn't hear Louis' pounding heart or his rapidly heaving chest. He didn't feel his sharp inhale. 

Louis mirrored Harry's hesitation by closing his eyes and stopping to kiss the man's cheek. "I think....I'm ready um-......now."

Harry opens his eyes to this mystery of a remark. "Ready for what, _macushla_?"

"You're so clueless." Louis laughs when he pinches the bridge of Harry's nose and kisses his lips simultaneously. "Nevermind."

"No." Harry keeps Louis from rolling away even the boy wasn't planning to, dragging him over their disarrayed covers to his embrace. "Tell me what you meant."

Louis fended off his advances by trying to crawl away. He shrieked when Harry grabbed ahold of his waist and toppled him over, leaving him pinned diagonally across the bed. He steals a kiss from his disapproving husband. "I don't want to anymore."

Harry muttered multiple curses when Louis squirmed and thrashed about under him. "Be still, Louis."

"No." Louis worsened his resistance for the heck of it and cried out in exasperation when Harry caught his legs with the coil of his tail. "That's not fair. I call a rule of no tails."

"Tell me what you meant." Harry intervenes with as strict a voice he can feign without succumbing to Louis' antics. "Now, Louis."

"Nope." Louis caught Harry by the ears and kissed him for a long enough time that the man almost forgot his cause. He knew he'd won when Harry moaned the way he always does when he's close to losing himself in the kiss. Louis flicks his tongue against the man's and he's a champion.

Harry slides his arms under Louis' form and secures him by his shoulderblades, deepening the premise of their kiss with his tongue and nipping teeth. "You're a minx, Louis. A fucking minx."

Louis smiles against Harry's mouth and withdraws to giggle abundantly. "That isn't such a bad thing, love."

"It is when said minx won't give me my answer." Harry watches Louis roll out from under him and get cosy amongst their many pillows. He pats the spot behind him and Harry can't deny himself the comfort that Louis offers.

An hour later they're still like this. Louis has labelled it 'spooning' and swears it was once a very common word. Harry doesn't believe him but continues to cuddle his husband from behind anyway, letting his tail get minutely tighter around Louis' hairless leg where it formed a dark spiral from thigh to ankle.

"Hey Harry." Louis was a hyper aware little counterpart for Harry that is currently worrying the skin of the man's cheek. He warned him with a small nibble before latching on more aggressively. 

"You are-" Harry pinched Louis' hip and pried him off, laying Louis out on his chest. "You always get your way because of these lovely blue eyes of yours, I imagine."

Louis giggled unabashedly and kissed Harry's cheek where his small teeth marks were starting to fade. "What if I wasn't this comfortable around you, Harry? Think about that."

Harry disregarded Louis words and returned to his neck to exact revenge. He let his lips numb the spot of skin he planned to mark and his teeth pressed into it. Louis knew that Harry never went far enough to draw blood and didn't worry, wincing when the pinch became too strong.

His husband suckled lightly, praising Louis' skin as he muted his noises and bruised the supple flesh. The taste was absent from his natural disability but the throb of blood soaring just on the other side of Louis' skin was just as enchanting. Harry pinned Louis' wrists to the mattress and turned his head more securely into the boy's neck, tugging on the frail skin. 

Bright red and sore, Louis whimpered from the impending abuse. "What are y- _Ow!_ "

Harry imprisoned his patch of skin with his canines and groaned to send vibrations on a course up Louis' spine. The boy arched upward into him with a whine, fingernails creating bloodless half-moons on Harry's knuckles. Louis hissed when he felt the prick of pierced skin and cried out in agony just to claim Harry's attention.

"Get off!" Louis cried out desperately, freeing his hands when his outburst caught Harry by surprise. "Get off, Harry."

His husband was quick to move away entirely and Louis slid off the bed hurriedly. Harry's chest constricted around the plummeting of his heart into his abdomen and his concern followed Louis to the bathroom. He didn't want to push the boy away irrevocably.

"Louis?" The bed creaked as he got off it as well, trailing after Louis when the boy disappeared into the bathroom. "Don't go, my little Louis."

Louis didn't hear him or chose to ignore the plea because he ducked around the bathroom corner. His hand clutched his neck where the expanding dampness from Harry's bite was only driving his concerns further up the wall. He yanked the medicine cabinet open with shallow pants coming in and out of his congested chest cavity.

A presence rocks up behind him and hands settle on his waist, a chin on his shoulder. Harry's troubled gaze meets his through the mirror's reflection and Louis does everything to dodge the labyrinth of questions. He shamelessly shrugs Harry off him to save time, expose skin where Harry's mark was. The blue case he pulled out from the cabinet fell into the sink and Louis' anxiety was leaps above the ground, choking a hot sob from him when two drops of blood reach the sink.

He has shaky hands and arms only getting tighter around him. Louis panics with tears in his eyes and worry plaguing his heart, his mind. He uncaps one syringe and plunges the needle into his shoulder, whimpering from the shocking sting of his skin being pierced.

"Fuck." Harry mutters when he witnesses the violence and reaches up to pull the syringe out once the medication is in Louis' system. He holds the boy's biceps and wipes off the remaining droplet of blood, seeing no mark left at all. "Fuck. Louis?"

Louis is wiping his eyes with shaky wrists and avoiding the mirror, falling back against Harry's weight. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Harry hated not knowing something and _this_ seemed to be an actuality he should know. He backed away from Louis and partially hid in the absence of light in their bedroom.

Louis turned around at the loss of Harry touching him, cheeks flushed and eyes red rimmed. His back hit the basin and he crossed his ankles, looking down at the union in shame. "I.....I have haemophilia. I should have told you, Harry, I know. I'm so sorry."

Harry rubbed his face with his hands and groaned in an irritable, ill-fashioned way. The thunder of his voice made Louis shiver as well as the mirror behind him vibrate. Louis hugged his middle and hoped for the least frightening reaction.

"Are you angry?" Louis heard himself say, cursing the filter-less nature of his tongue. "Please don't be mad at me, love. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Don't yell at me."

Louis hated being the subject of verbal abuse, it was his weakness. If Harry yelled at him then he'd forfeit any semblance of a spine he had to leave the room as soon as possible. He listened to Harry's heavy breathing as he stalked around the room full of frustration to the unholiest degree. Louis flinched when he heard something unbreakable collide with the wall in an ear-splitting echo. 

"I won't yell." Harry was once again two feet away from him and Louis has yet to look up from the floor. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Louis could _feel_ the unkind glare of Harry's unsettling crimson eyes boring into his fragile skin. They were glowing, from dull red to blistering bloody, as Harry's emotions suffered the same battle. Harry didn't know what to feel; anger, hurt or just numbness. It should be important that Louis hid something from him because they're _married_ but it also shouldn't stand for anything because marriage meant close to nothing in the new generation.

"Louis." Harry prompted a response in a stern voice, a hint of his anger surfacing through that medium.

"I-I didn't want it to be _a thing_ between us." Louis explains as he raises his head and pleads with his eyes, those untainted crystals. "You'd be so careful around me and never treat me the way I'd like to be."

Harry's gaze had his pinned until the man turned away with a sinister chuckle, cracking the knuckles on his hand one by one. "Like what I just did, Louis? You want more instances where you have to run off and _take a fucking shot_?"

Louis felt his deep-seeded worry start to make his lip quiver and coupled with exhaustion, he was barrelling towards misery. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves, although they felt just as shaky when he was done exhaling. With cautious footing, Louis made his way over to Harry's aggravated self. 

He was stunned to witness the man so uprooted that he _vibrated_ with conflict and frustration. Louis could feel that whirlwind of emotion radiating from his flesh and muscle, soaking into anything that could feel. Before he suffocated himself with it, Louis fell forward to hug Harry sidewards. 

Awkward as their position may have been, Louis didn't feel himself being pushed away or discouraged. He gripped his husband tightly around his middle, and his height disadvantage gave him the perfect angle. "I'm sorry."

Harry became significant less annoyed when Louis stuck to him so suddenly. The boy was under his arm and clinging to his waist. He did much work to calm to demons running amok in his head but he found the dregs sanity left to embrace Louis back.

"I care about you." Louis mumbled where his face was pressed into Harry's chest. "Please don't be mad, love."

Harry sighed and found his arms instinctively reaching up to curl around his husband's shoulders. He could be angry at himself and the entire universe but never Louis, not the boy who made his existence a lot less painful each day. His lovely partner had a disorder and that's not a problem for Harry, because all he had to do was be a little cautious now.

"Hmm." The man surrendered and pulled Louis around to look at him in the eye, cupping his rosy cheeks. He felt Louis lean up on his tiptoes and smiled into the kiss he received shortly after. "I care about you, my little Louis. I don't want you getting hurt."

Louis buried his visage in Harry's clavicle, humming softly. "I've survived nineteen years, Harry. I'll be fine, I promise."

They end up in bed again once a calm tide blanketed their night. Louis felt the temperature drop and from where he was curled up on Harry's chest, he had to risk overheating his husband whilst pulling the comforter up. Harry covered his shoulders for him so Louis didn't have to remove his hands from the warmth.

"Are you going to sleep now?" Louis asked, voice partially muffled by the covers.

Harry was occupied with trailing his fingers over the feminine curve of Louis' slender hip turning into the fullness of his bottom. He was shameless. "No."

Louis nuzzled Harry's warm throat at the side where he made a home for himself. "Then I'm staying up with you."

"I hardly think so." Harry slipped his arms under the covers too and embraced Louis' waist, his tail following suit. 

"I can." Louis wrapped the comforter more securely around himself and leaned up to kiss Harry's unsuspecting lips. He giggled when the man tried chasing after him when he withdrew, sympathising enough to stay close. 

"You need to sleep, _macushla_." Harry rolled them over so his tail didn't experience such a dire force of weight. He kept it around Louis' frame and ensured that no part of his stubborn spouse was cold. 

"So do you." Louis bit his lip and chose the pillow they will share. "What if I called you Daddy?"

Harry's interest is _piqued_ by this statement and indulges in Louis' soft giggles as they come tumbling out. He strengthens to grip he has around his husband as he gets his subconscious to acknowledge that Louis is merely one soul full of wonder. 

He both loves and disapproves of the way Louis made numerous attempt to _climb_ into his personal space. So clumsy was this lovely boy with his blindingly bright eyes and soft awe. Harry sighs in contempt while Louis makes himself comfortable with an unnecessary amount of finesse, curling his tail restrictively around the boy's hip when he stills.

"That will only apply once we've had sex, my little Louis." Harry states candidly. 

Louis makes a curious sound, lips rounded and face inches away from Harry. "Oh my- Are you younger than me?"

Harry swears to the lowest level of Hell where demons spawned that he cares for this boy more than _anything_ , but said boy is also going to be the reason he turns into a mad ruler in need of medication for a sound mind. 

"No." He answers curtly. The skin of his middle finger tingles when Louis grabs hold of it.

"How old are you then?" Louis blinks up at him, innocence and temptation all rolled into one miracle. 

"I'm not telling you that, _macushla_." Harry severs any chance Louis might pounce on to ask again.

Louis has never been one to abide by courtesy. "I won't tell anyone."

"No."

Louis wiggles until he's draped over Harry again, infuriating his husband with all his movement. Harry waits patiently for Louis to settle on his chest and his own tail to stop aching. "Please?"

"No."

"Are you old?" Louis kisses both Harry's cheeks and then the frown on his brow, relenting only when it melts away. "I wouldn't mind, you know. I'm already quite fond of you."

Harry's frown becomes lopsided into a tiny smirk. "If that is true, then why do you need to know my age?"

Louis brushes a lock of chocolate curly hair that lies on Harry's forehead to join the rest behind the man's ear. "Because you know mine. It's only fair, Harry."

He senses that he's wearing the man down and Harry is weak to Louis' will anyway. The boy folds his arms on Harry's chest and raises his head a few inches higher. Harry's hands relax on his favourite spot, Louis' hips that are soft and warm in his hold under the boy's shirt. He can brush his thumbs back and forth over Louis' skin in worship, and fall asleep to how much it resembles sunlight.

"If I was forty years old, you'd be okay with that?" Harry flexes his fingers over Louis' lower back, cupping the warm flesh. 

Louis' facial expression didn't twitch more than form a pout. "I'd have to send your plastic surgeon a letter of appreciation."

Harry was amused by Louis' response and let a chuckle break through his demeanour. He surged forward and kissed his husband's lips with as firm intent as he can manage. Louis' smile vanishes for a heartbeat when he cups Harry's cheek and allows his husband to deepen their connection with a flick of his tongue.

Louis' arms encircle Harry's neck parts his lips on a wider span, letting his legs fall onto either side of his husband. He loses his fingers in the tangle of Harry's messy curls when he grounds himself with a whimper. Harry squeezes his bottom to pull him closer and tastes all the reachable surfaces of Louis' mouth. 

He loves how Louis battles with him for dominance, just to lose ten seconds later. Their tongues meet in a soiree of heat and absence of thought, Louis' hands and Harry's palms all becoming blurred as they explore one another. Harry feels like a lunatic when Louis pulls away, a growl bubbling out of his chest as he chases after his husband's lips. 

"Fuck." Harry knows he's a goner the instant he sits up and swallows Louis' squeak. 

His arms are a possessive cage around Louis as he re-engages the boy in a searing kiss. He groans into Louis' mouth as the latter starts to nibble on his lip, adding playfulness to their ambiance. Smaller, cool hands frame Harry's face. 

"I know what you meant when you said you were ready." Harry mouths at Louis' pulse when he speaks, feeling the flex of Louis' jaw as it falls slack. 

The boy - unmistakably _his boy_ \- tugs on Harry's hair with a firm grip. "I still want to know how old you are."

Harry stopped his infernal praise of Louis' skin to cough out a hoarse laugh, tucking his face into Louis' neck. His thumb was religiously brushing over the absent mark he left on Louis before, regret inching up his conscious mind. 

"My little Louis, you really test me at times." Harry kisses the skin where his mark was and closed his eyes, feeling an actual taste of drowsiness. "I am twenty-nine years old."

"Woah." Louis mumbles, lips on Harry's cheek while their comforter was once again brought up to his shoulders. "Okay."

Harry tucks the covers in around his husband who had chronic cold feet, his tail tugging in small intervals so that Louis is against his front. "That isn't unappealing to you?"

Louis yawns and shakes his head. "What's age got to do with anything?"

"Then why did you ask?" Harry frowns at this angel. 

"I'm nosy." Louis shrugs and supports himself by hugging Harry's shoulders. "And you know mine."

Harry watches Louis try and fail to resist falling asleep for the next hour. His eyelids flutter as he blinks lazily, yawning behind his fist to hide his exhaustion. That fist would then unfurl and hook onto Harry's shoulder so he could look up with slightly bloodshot but just as brilliant blue eyes. Harry decided to really test his willpower at one point and gently rocked him from side to side.

"St- _Stop_." Louis stretches and pushes down on Harry's arms. He yawns when the light swaying gets to him, whining when a pair of lips seek out his sweet spot that's just below his ear. 

"My little Louis." Harry kisses the top of Louis' head, breathing in the vanilla and berry scent. "You're so stubborn."

Louis closes his eyes and sagged into Harry's embrace, cheek resting over the thump of Harry's heart. Harry hears his breathing even out and sits back against the headboard, drawing Louis closer to him. The boy sits perched on his bare thigh under the hoard of covers, sniffling with his fists curled on Harry's torso.

  
* * * * *  


Morning finds itself accompanied by the chirping of birds and the shouting of Harry's men getting the horses out for their walk. Harry himself hasn't slept all night and charged himself with the responsibility of holding Louis while the boy did sleep.

He discovered many things about his minx-like husband through the night. Louis sniffed frequently even when he didn't feel cold, and often did his fingers twitch. Harry once took them up between his own, to feel their jerking movements on his own skin. Louis spoke in his sleep, and Harry was hopelessly enthralled by that. It happened in sessions of thirty seconds and only once, but Harry could have a jumbled conversation like the one he had last night.

"Louis?" He heard a mumble against his shoulder come from Louis and hoped the boy hadn't woken himself up.

"Hmph." The disgruntled response was amusing on Louis' kind features. 

Harry's tail captured and didn't release Louis' thigh where it rested on the man's lap. "Are you sleeping like you're supposed to?"

Louis' response was not at all related to Harry's question, an amusing quirk. "Muffins are goin' 'way."

Harry tried getting an explanation out of Louis but the boy was lost again, peacefully resting while Harry rubbed his back. His eyes gravitated to the spot on Louis' shoulder where he had bitten, once more than thick shadow of guilt nestled into his chest. It did not budge for the entirety of the night.

Louis woke up with something akin to a neck cramp. He moaned and rolled his head back on his shoulders, circling the muscle to loosen it. His skin was plastered to another's and the previous night's happenings flooded his memory when he turned to find Harry passed out against the wall. 

Harry is a wonderful man under all his layers of bitter personality. Louis can't see a day in the near future when he'll regret meeting this euphoric man.

"And _I'm_ the stubborn one." He ridicules his dozing husband, picking Harry's head up and setting it down on a pillow. 

Louis kissed Harry's cheek and then his chapped lips before climbing off him at the grumble in his empty belly. He left the curtains closed while he washed up and didn't bother with changing out of his sleep wear. Snow was wide awake and ready to accompany Louis to the kitchen.

"Shh." He whispered to the puppy that yapped. "Master is sleeping."

He closed the door behind him and padded down the hallway, beyond the threshold and down the stairs. There's a small greeting called to Alfie and the guard Louis gave a dandelion to yesterday. He goes into the kitchen and finds his two favourite chefs busy with an old newspaper's puzzle.

"Morning." He kisses Rose's cheek and steals a bagel off Jack's plate. 

Rose smiled watching Louis prepare his own tea. "You come down every mornin' with even more bruises, son."

"Huh?" Louis looks down at the reflective surface of the sink and blushes wildly. The exhibition of Harry's hickies ranging from purple to bright red was on full display. "Sorry."

"Aha." Rose gave him a once over and poured some milk into the little bowl for Snow. "Is 'e awake?"

"No." Louis finished Jack's bagel and held his mug with both hands to warm them up. "Won't be up for a while."

Jack got frustrated with the puzzle and dumped the newspaper on the counter. Louis took up his pencil and read over the print, filling in some of the answers he new for the extensive crossword.

Rose puts a plate of eggs in front of Louis when he hops onto a stool. "Did 'e tell you about tonight?"

"No." Louis frowns, finishing the crossword and picking up his fork. "What's happening tonight?"

"Big dinner." Jack answers gruffly, getting up from the table with his plate and empty mug. "Somethin' to do with the settlements."

"Oh." 

Louis eats his breakfast while he thinks about the dinner and why Harry didn't tell him. He also didn't remember Louis telling him an important time yesterday. It made Louis concerned for his husband and what might be stressing him out mentally to a degree that he's starting to _forget_. Worrying about Harry takes away Louis' appetite and pushes his plate away.

"Be right back." He takes a sufficient gulp of his tepid beverage before exiting the kitchen.

Louis is skidding around the corner and coming to a halt at the base of the grand old staircase when he sees Harry's already present. Standing at the top of the staircase whilst buttoning the cuffs of his shirt sleeves is Louis' husband. He's frowning at the tiny black buttons and Louis takes in the fact that a shirt is entirely pointless when it's gaping open at the front. 

Entirely unbuttoned from the collar to the last tab, Harry's black dress shirt is open. It exposed a tan column of skin down to the first traces of his V-line, Louis' throat goes a little dry seeing it. Harry's pants hug his legs and his boots are jet black, blending with the colour of everything else. He looks up and spots Louis, his frown is then replaced by the will of a smirk.

"Morning, lovely." He jogs down the steps and stops after the last, the two untied ends of his shirt coming to a stop against his abs.

"Um-" Louis _swears_ he had a purpose before Harry's muscles made an appearance. He pries his eyes away from the toned, tattooed and built abdomen of his husband. "You're awake."

"Yes." Harry's smile turns up at the corner in amusement. 

Louis chokes on the air he meant to use for verbal fuel when a tail coils around his hips and yanks him forward. He lands gracefully against Harry's chest, peering up into far from exhausted and captivating ruby eyes. "Are you okay?"

Harry's enthusiasm falters, both in his smile and the glow of his eyes. "What do you mean, lovely?"

"I mean-" Louis clears his throat as well as readies his resolution here. Harry's tail crept up under his shirt and Louis shivered from the graze of its sharpened tip on his bare skin. It reminded him that his husband was both a hero and dark knight. "-you didn't tell me about the-"

"Louis!" Rose's interrupting voice called from the kitchen and it sounded urgent. 

"Tell you what?" Harry didn't let go when Louis tried getting free of him. "Louis."

"Louis!"

The boy worried about what might have happened in the kitchen, or to someone in it. His dilemma with Harry can wait a few minutes. "Coming!"

"What didn't I tell you?" Harry's desperation to know was confusing but Louis hardly had time to consider it.

"Later." Louis wiggled and released Harry's tail from behind him. He caught Harry's cheek and kissed him fleetingly before rushing off. "Bye."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KINDLY HEAR THIS. I am not racist nor do I promote racial discrimination in any of my works. To those who have pointed out the fact that I mention 'the darkened skin around Harry's eyes' and label it as racial discrimination, you really need to calm down. I am offended that you have accused me of this mindset and would appreciate it if you read more into the detail before commenting offensive things. In the context of his skin, I mean coal black and not black as in the real race group. I apologise if that was not clear to anyone but it is now. Thank you.


	9. Chapter Nine.

**_[A/N: Excited for AHS returning in the Fall. Who else??? - S xx]_ **

Louis burst into the kitchen full of adrenaline and concern. He held the door open and peered into the room. Snow was still lapping at his breakfast milk and nothing was being blown up. Rose is still concerned with the scrambled eggs on the stove and Jack is still puzzling over Louis' answers to the crossword.

"What's wrong?" Louis' confusion follows him into the kitchen after he let's the door swing shut behind him.

Rose looks up from the frying pan to acknowledge him. "My son's comin' to visit t'day. I want 'im to meet you."

"He's my son too." Jack grumbles, much to Louis' amusement. 

"I'd love to meet him." Louis looks out through the circular window hoisted on the door and sees that Harry is gone. "You screamed so loudly, I thought someone was hurt."

"It's her superpower." Jack mocks his wife as she passes him by and whacks his shoulder with a dish towel. "She makes everythin' a life or death issue."

Louis, relieved to have learnt that there was no hazard, swipes a few slices of apple from a plate on the table. "So when is your son get in?"

"Couple hours." Rose answers, setting a plate of eggs in front of him. She's on a mission to get him to eat as much that will put meat on his bones. "He's bringing 'is husband."

"Don't you like his husband?" Louis nibbles on pieces of apple and raises a suspicious brow at the eternally grumpy Jack. "You told me he used to work for mine."

"And that's still true." Jack gestures for Louis to slide the remaining apple slices over to him, which he does.

"Liam is a sweet man. Complete gentleman to our Niall." Rose intervenes from the stove, feeling proud when Louis feeds himself some of the food she gave him.

"Your son's name is Niall?" Louis enquires.

Rose smiles her especially fond smile, the one reserved for her most treasured recollections. "He's a good boy. Teaches at the school you visited."

"Oh?" Louis finishes the egg on his plate. "I can't wait to meet him. I'm going to tell him-"

The kitchen door was knocked open by a firm fist that nearly knocks the entire object off its hinges. Louis is spooked the abrupt _thud_ of the door hitting the wall behind it, and his spine turns rigid at the impact of sound. Rose stops stirring for a moment and Jack stands up from his seat to look over Louis' shoulder.

"Mornin', Master." Rose greets the man who sources Louis' chills and makes him smirk down at his eggless plate. 

He knew Harry was in the room before that kitchen door swung right back into its proper standing. The goosebumps on his arms prickled across the stretch of his arm and the hairs on the back of his neck stood to attention. Louis only experienced those nerves around Harry, and the earlier image from this morning he has of his husband comes to mind. He is very motivated to ask Harry to keep all his shirts unbuttoned when he wore them.

"Morning." Harry's voice coming from behind Louis was scratchy and irritable, his tiredness leaking into each word he spoke. This overall tone was entirely absent when Louis spoke to him earlier. "I want to speak to my husband alone."

Rose wipes her hand on her striped apron and pinches Jack's arm to get him up, nodding obediently at the same time. "Of course."

On her way out the door that Harry walked in, Rose encouragingly rubs Louis' arm. Louis returns the gesture with a smile and disregards his plate of miscellaneous breakfast foods to spin around on his chair. He hooks his feet up on a steel bar below his seat and takes in Harry's altered appearance. 

The black dress shirt is gone to make way for Harry's blatantly naked upper body. He's yawning discreetly while he blocks it with a fist, and steps up to the space between Louis' knees. His tattoos are all on display for Louis to trace for a moment with his fingertips while he pouts at his smouldering husband. 

Harry has tired eyes by the way he rubs the fruitless exhaustion from the straining eyes. The pressure built up in his skull feels like it's going to burst through his eye sockets. His bare torso easily fits into the gap between Louis' thighs and although he is partially asleep, Harry finds the strength to grip Louis' legs and hike them up on his hips. It is done so suddenly that Louis giggles after an embarrassing peep leaves his lips.

"Good morning to you too." Louis feels the familiar sensation of Harry's tail curling effortlessly up his thigh. 

Harry grunts irritably and opens his eyes lazily, pulsating ruby orbs remaining half-lidded. His servants were out of the room and Louis is the only breathing being allowed to see him this way.

"Hmph." Harry relaxes in the feel of Louis' hands wandering up and down the length of his abdomen. 

"Aw." Louis cooes at his husband's awful state, kissing both Harry's cheeks and his lips. 

He reaches up and scratches the part of Harry's throat that itches most when he wakes up disorientated. Louis does him the favour of lightly easing the frustratingly coarse skin, planting a kiss on the stubbly surface. Harry's palms gravitate to Louis' thighs where they knead the hairless, supple flesh until it's flushed and smooth to the touch.

"What's the matter?" Louis uses his thumb to rub the twitch out of Harry's neck muscle, just under his chin and at the softest spot. "You didn't look tired when I saw you earlier."

Harry grumbles into Louis' neck, thinking that his lovely husband is referring to their time in bed. "I woke up without you, _macushla_. Why is that?"

Louis crosses his legs while they're wrapped around Harry, and pecks the man's chin. His lips brush the unkind prickle of Harry's impending facial hair and smiles when his affection is returned by his husband kissing him below his ear. It's become a marvellous habit between the two of them to kiss where is convenient as moments pass faster than they can risk losing any.

"I was hungry." Louis answers Harry's question before he can forget, resting his cheek on Harry's bare shoulder. 

"Alright." Harry yawns again and he hides it this time in the juncture of Louis' neck. Louis shivers at the warm breath that disperses from the circular press of Harry's lips. "I could eat as well."

Louis is left atop his perch once more so Harry can manoeuvre around the kitchen island to the stove. He watches his husband in just jeans and boots plate up his own breakfast as well as prepare his own coffee. Louis picks a bunch of grapes out of the fruit bowl and breaks off a decently sized branch.

"I didn't inform you yesterday but-" Harry sets his plate down on the island opposite to Louis and fetches his coffee. "-tonight I am hosting a dinner."

"Oh yeah." Louis didn't want to bring up the issue of Harry's _forgetfulness_ because it's the last thing his husband would need right now. And upon further consideration, Louis thinks that it will be wiser to wait to gather more information on whether or not Harry is actually not well. "Cool."

Harry raises his eyebrow at Louis as he sits and finds the latter's feet on his lap from under the table. "You will need to dress formally."

"Aha." Louis pops the last green grape into his mouth and steals Harry's coffee. It's bitter and is a thousand reasons to be awful so he slides it right back into the man's possession. "I will have a gown made for this special occasion."

Harry smirks from behind his mug as he takes a large sip from the exact spot that Louis did. It doesn't fail to make Louis blush when he notices. "Don't tease me, my little Louis."

Louis gasped scandalously and tossed a grape at Harry to punish him for his absurd comment. All it ended with was the man pulling off a jerk reflex and catching the grape in his mouth. Louis rolls his eyes in an exaggerated manner. "Yeah well, you're old."

Harry doesn't stop laughing for the entire time that he drinks his coffee. He meets Louis' eye and all the boy does is glare when he winks. "A tailor is coming in from town to bring our suits."

"When did you get my measurements?" Louis steals his third round of grapes - almost entirely deteriorating the mother bunch. 

"They're not difficult to note when I've touched you as much as I have." His husband replies with a novelty smirk of his again, creasing the ashen skin at his eyes so that the red is more abundant. 

Louis scoffs and watches Harry finish his food. He knows he's being watched no matter how intensely he studies the skin of each grape he eats. Harry's gaze is focused so intently on Louis that it doesn't even unnerve the younger male anymore, it soothes him rather to know that Harry is always going to be this protective. 

"Harry, when is your birthday?" Louis suddenly asks when the sensation of his skin itching with the electricity Harry provided proved to be too intense. 

His husband was clearly surprised by the question and blinked away a haze of confusion while he procured a decent response. "You've already gotten one bit of personal information from me, _macushla_."

"I don't think one bit is enough." Louis points out whilst gesturing to his wedding ring that corresponds with Harry's. "I promise not to throw you a party."

Harry shook his head and stood up to refill his coffee mug. Louis woke up too and followed his spouse to the coffee machine, where he enveloped the man's nude waist in a hug. He kisses Harry's hunched shoulderblade. 

"I don't remember my birthday, _macushla_." Harry finally says in a voice so quiet, Louis wouldn't have heard him if they weren't this close. Harry also doesn't seem upset by this reality and captures both Louis' hands in his own, bringing them up to his lips for consecutive kisses. "It isn't something important."

Louis feels so much sympathy for this man, affection and after such little time he is fond of Harry. He makes no sound when he slides under the man's arm and hugs him from the front, peering into those paralysing blood-red rubies. Harry kisses his forehead and rubs his back while the coffee machine dispatches his drink. 

"Today can be your birthday." Louis whispers while he presses his lips to Harry's neck. "Especially since.....it's going to be special for the both of us."

Harry can't object to that. As much as he is a man who has seen the worst of one world and then another, it still gets him enthusiastic when he thinks about being with Louis. "Oh fucking Hell."

"What?" Louis looks at the grimace on his husband's brow, something pained and plagued all merging in his expression. "What's wrong?"

"Tonight is the dinner." Harry grabs onto Louis' hips just in case his boy got upset and chose to leave - an outcome that _must_ be prevented. He looks into Louis' eyes in earnest apology. "I'm sorry, my little Louis. I don't know why-"

"It's fine." Louis smiled comfortingly and full of reassurance. He even kissed Harry's cheek to confirm that he was fine with postponing their night of blissful privacy again, even if the strain showed a little in his eyes. "The dinner is important."

Harry's tail comes around the dip of Louis' back and he kisses Louis deeply, cupping his cheeks. He looks so pained when he tries to convey his stunted feelings. "I will cancel the dinner."

"No, you won't." Louis refuses the outrageous proposition and nips at Harry's bottom lip. "We can be together tomorrow, love. Tomorrow at six o'clock."

Harry hasn't felt guilt many times in his life and if it is what is festering in his chest then he never wants to experience it again. He delivers a searing kiss once more to Louis, taking in how warm and considerate his husband is. "Tomorrow will be my birthday."

"You bet." Louis grins, easily lightning the foul mood of a deflated spirit. Harry was taking care of so many important matters daily that he ought to be generous with his time and argument. "I care about you, you know."

"Yes, _macushla_ , I know." Harry abandons his hope for a better mug of coffee and embraces his stunning other half, kissing his lips and cheek. "I care for you so deeply."

  
* * * * *  


Louis has left Harry to his duties while he went galavanting around on the mansion, hoping to discover new facets of their home. He smiles at every servant he passes while being indiscreetly tailed by two of Harry's guards - one of which being who he has nicknamed Dandelion Mike. 

He explored the emptiness beneath the staircase and the shadows of one abandoned hallway that's directly across from the bedrooms. Most were locked and Louis was informed that they were the rooms of Harry's servants, amongst frequent broom closets. Louis opened the closets and had his nose tickle at the pungent odour of detergents each time, not learning his lesson as he trekked from door to door.

There were these authentic, monumental paintings hung up along the walls of the hallway that led down to the last door. Louis recognised the handiwork to depict various aspects of a world and war he avoided to a total degree. Harry's mare was painted with error with a background of snow-capped trees. She was without saddle and standing tall, proud.

"Master stopped painting a year ago." Dandelion Mike tells Louis and when the latter turns his way, nods in the direction of a door behind him. "That used to be his studio."

Louis' heap whips around to take in the dark oak of the hallway's last barrier, clearly the oldest of them all with a brass doorknob and peeling paint. "He painted all this?"

"Yes sir." Mike replies with the affirmative.

The paintings were remarkable in their own right. Each one held detail that could never be properly replicated on paper before. Louis was in awe of his husband's skill and thought about _how many_ beautiful aspects there were to one man.

"Let's go." Louis brushes his fingers over the old frame of the painted mare. "I promised Rose I'd meet her family."

Louis was accompanied downstairs by his guards. He felt uneasy for a second after passing the one broom closet he didn't open because the door would stick. It felt like breath passing over his shoulder through the slits, going frigid when he passed by. 

The kitchen was in its infamous hustle and bustle mode when Louis got there. He was sure that Rose had every one of Harry's able servants helping her out with the cooking for tonight's grand dinner. There was marinated chicken waiting for its turn in the oven. Turkey was already in there with potatoes and made the kitchen stifling hot.

Louis stole a leaf of lettuce from the salad one of the younger female servants were making, inspecting the array of foods. Dessert was the least of everyone's worries because Rose planned to get that done during the dinner while the main course was being served. Louis felt useless as he dodged hot plates and skewers on his way to the lady in charge.

"Hey." He greeted, watching her frantically taste her pea soup while mixing the sauce for another dish. 

Rose unexpectedly stopped her furious engagement to kiss Louis' forehead like he's a gift from above. "My boy's been 'ere ten seconds without company. Do me a favour, son, and go find 'im?"

"Sure." Louis shrugs. "Got any idea where he'll be?"

Rose looks terribly busy for a moment until she processes Louis' question. "Dining room."

Louis nods and silently tiptoes out of everyone's way so he's back in the foyer, a safer zone. He takes a deep breath and ducks under a tray of balanced napkins going over his head by one of the young men intended to be a server tonight. Snow finds himself glued to Louis' side as they make their way under the staircase and around the wide corner leading to the dining room.

"Damn it." Louis can't shake the horrid feeling of chills spiking the hairs on his neck. He tries not to stomp his foot while Snow looks up at him curiously. "Why do I feel like I'm being watched today?"

He manages to avoid the unsettling sensation once he's shoved through one of the tall dining room doors. Snow follows in behind him before Louis shuts the barrier with a sound vibration bouncing off the walls. His eyes scan the room and come across two people he hasn't seen here before, obviously his targets, perched on one of the window sills together chatting so closely.

"Hi." He waves a little timidly when they both look his way and Louis is absolutely certain he hasn't seen these people before.

One was without a doubt Harry's former guards. He has broad shoulders and a pin-straight back that cracked delightfully when he woke up in a gentlemanly manner to greet Louis. He had a clean shaven face and a birthmark that resembled and island on his neck. The brown of his neatly shaven hair was three shades darker than that of his eyes.

The second individual is easily identified as Rose and Jack's son. He has feather light blond hair that reflects the ideal shade of sunlight. The pearly blue eyes were just below his hair that has effortlessly reached a medium between messy and styled. They were bright and like two little stars compacted into galactic marbles.

"Hello." The former unknown person stretches out his hand to shake Louis' hand, but it's easier to realise that all he's doing is shielding his husband should Louis have been a threat.

"Rose sent me to." Louis smiled politely and watched the light haired companion wake up as well. "I would have come bearing food but she wouldn't let me have any."

"That's odd. My mother is not usually known for her strict parenting." The person nudging past Liam shook Louis' hand as well with a fading Irish accent and pleasant voice. "I'm Niall. This one is Liam."

"It's lovely to meet you, Niall." Louis returns the brilliant smile from his new acquaintance. "Hi, Liam. I'm not dangerous."

Liam gave a chuckle before stepping back as Louis did look decently harmless, but he won't take any chances. Niall gestures for Louis to join them and the latter goes on a mission to drag a chair from the table towards the window. 

"That's a beautiful ring." Niall points out to Louis once they're settled, him and Liam on the window seat and Louis in a chair. 

"Oh. Thank you." Louis never forgets his wedding ring. It's the artefact of worth he always looks at with a flutttery sensation in his belly. He looks over at Niall's finger and guffaws at Niall's triple-banded gold wedding ring, brandished with a circular diamond right in the middle. "Your ring is gorgeous. I haven't seen gold for while."

Liam says something in Niall's ear that the latter male nods for, kisses his lips chastely before his husband can part with them. "It was nice meeting you, Louis."

"Likewise." Louis grins and hears Liam walk across the dining room to the door, shutting it behind him.

"Is that white gold?" Niall's voice brings Louis back to their conversation from his distracted moment of staring at the rose bushes being rustled by the wind. 

Louis studies his wedding ring for a moment, thumbing over the precious gem that's uncrusted into the priceless mineral. "Yeah. I think so."

Niall's grin sobers to something quizzical, worry haunting his expression. "I only know one man who has white gold in this hemisphere."

"Hmm." Louis chews on his lip. 

He hasn't been allowed to interact with people that were half as pleasant or similar to him like Niall, since he wed Harry. There's a sudden nagging in at the back of his mind that because of Harry's vile reputation amongst others lower than he, Louis might not be able to actually befriend anyone. He's fine with sticking by his passionate and domineering husband. 

"You.... _know_ Harry Styles?" Niall questions with widened eyes as evidence of his shock. "Really?"

Louis musters up his bravery. He crosses his legs comfortably on his seat, and clears his throat as his fingers curl protectively around his ring. "I'm married to him, yes."

"Oh um-" Niall doesn't do well with hiding his disdain. He isn't so much repulsed as he is sympathetic. "I'm sorry."

"Nah. He isn't a kind of monster." Louis dismisses Niall's concern though it amuses him. "I enjoy spending time with my husband."

Niall takes a minute to read the genuine feelings coming through Louis' words and being conveyed with those explicitly navy eyes. Louis didn't have a mark on him besides some fading on his neck that looked pretty in pink against his honeyed skin. He wasn't dull or exhausted. 

"Really?" Niall asks again, feeling like a fool.

Louis giggles and nods eagerly. "I understand your surprise. There was a time when I thought I'd hate him forever too."

"When was that?" Niall shifts in his seat to be across Louis, his back facing the glittering garden.

"Um...- Too long ago." Louis knows it's a lie. He hated Harry with a riveting passion for time even after their wedding day, but it was _difficult_ to explain their situation to outsiders. "Rose has told me so much about you. I don't think I believed half the stuff she said."

"It must be." Niall laughs humbly and hugs his knees to his chest. His jeans were dark blue and his arms were covered in a plain white T-shirt. "I was both clumsy and talented as a child."

"Did you really wake up with a bee in your mouth once?" Louis asks him, recalling one of the spectacular story that Rose narrated to him once. 

"Yes!" Niall crows, groaning towards the end as he blushes. "I fell asleep under an orange tree and when I woke up, there's a bee in my mouth. Didn't sting me though."

"Ah." Louis' laughter trails off so he can fix his fringe. 

"Was also the day I met Liam." Niall shrugs and scratches the side of his neck. "I was runnin' around like an idiot sayin' nobody will ever love someone who had a bee in his mouth."

Like that, Louis and Niall sat by the window and spoke for such a long time that neither thought to consider the hours they'd passed. Liam popped back in thrice to ensure that Louis still wasn't a threat. They were like old friends by the time Louis and Niall decided to take a walk through the hallways of the mansion, while the dining room was being set up for Harry's dinner.

There was so much activity in his home that Louis felt a little out of place as he wandered from hallway to staircase. Servants were carrying chairs, changing curtains and laying out cutlery. Silver was polished and glass was polished. Harry's study was sealed. 

"So-" Niall's arm had become looped through his when Louis tripped and needed saving, the condition never having changed since then. "-is Harry the same?"

"What do you mean?" Louis smiles at Alfie as the assistant looks close to pulling his hair out. 

"Like, is he still crazy?"

"Hey." Louis lightly nudges Niall in punishment. "That's my husband."

"You don't sound the least bit resentful when you say that so I'm going to take it as, he has changed." Niall nods. There is no changing his mind. 

"Sir?" A servant comes rushing up the steps for Louis' attention. She isn't a face that Louis has seen often but her messy bun and pink cheeks are evidence of hard work.

"Hi." Louis greets her sweetly and takes the paper from her hand when it's held out to him. "Thank you."

"Sir, hey." Niall looks impressed. "I wouldn't call you Sir."

Louis rolls his eyes and unfolds the paper. "Neither would I, Niall. Hang on."

He looks the elegant handwriting that narrates one sentence and smiles, chewing the inside of his cheek. 

_'I need to see you. - Your husband.'_

"Sorry, Niall." Louis waves the paper. "I'll come find you in a bit, okay?"

"Deal."

Louis jogs down his favourite staircase with practised footing and turns left at the heavy wooden railing. He leaps up onto the platform where Harry's office sat before knocking twice and pushing the heavy door open. It's hot in Harry's office and Louis shuts the door before finding the man himself seated at his table, occupied with his papers.

"Wait." The booming voice of Harry is formidable and stops Louis in his tracks.

Hunched over in his iconic throne, Harry is squinting to read fine print while Louis toes at his carpet in boredom. He puffs out his cheeks, counts to ten and exhales audibly while he waits. Harry's knuckles relax from their page white tension when he hears that, because there isn't a soul other than his boy that would behave in such a fashion.

"Not you, my little Louis." Harry lifts his head and pushes his seat back so Louis can easily find his place. "You never have to wait."

"Good." Louis drops the note onto Harry's table and climbs onto his lap gracefully, not wincing when two large hands cup his bottom in their efforts to bring him closer. 

Harry looked tired. He _is_ tired, morbidly drained and it worried Louis to no end. His husband hadn't slept properly in two nights and now he's got bruises under his eyes, heavy bags under those electrifying rubies. Louis traced one with his fingertip and felt their warmth, their strain as Harry kept them attentive.

"Hi." Louis whispers when he's done his inspection. 

He gets a smirk before Harry is leaning forward and demands his kiss. Louis is willing to grant that wish, locking his arms around Harry's neck and tilting his head as their lips meet. It's a sweet union like all the others. Louis opens up for Harry to master the territory of his mouth, his own hot little tongue swiping across Harry's.

Harry hums in gratification when Louis withdraws, licks his lips even to reminisce in the feeling of Louis. "Hello, little one."

Louis giggles softly and suddenly attacks Harry's bottom lip, capturing it between his teeth and tugging to watch it fall back when he released. "I wish you'd sleep before tonight's silly party."

"It isn't a party." Harry pulls his chair back in. He knows how flexible his husband is and how easy it would be to have Louis climb off him - an absurd concept. "Little one, I have something to discuss with you. Something important."

"Okay." Louis sat back, away from Harry a little although the man's hands remained _firmly_ on his posterior. He allowed himself to sober. "What's up?"

Harry bit back a chuckle and revelled in Louis' palms on his chest. They were dainty while still capable, small and highly precious. "Tonight, there will be the leaders of many settlements here."

"Okay." Louis traces a bird on Harry's chest. 

"Many of those leaders have known about me and are against my reign here." Harry says slowly, watching for changes in Louis' reaction. 

"Aw." Louis cooes. "I'm sorry."

Harry finds it more and more difficult each day to not get distracted in his conversations with Louis. "Those men _cannot_ , under any circumstances, know that I have any weaknesses."

Louis looks at him with a quizzical quirk to his raised eyebrow. "You don't have any weaknesses besides maybe your cooking. Your food is awful, love."

"Louis. You're not listening, little one." Harry chuckles and squeezes Louis' hips, rubbing the God-given supple skin granted to him for touching by this beautiful boy. 

"Get to the point then." Louis pokes Harry's chest. 

Harry knows this won't end well before he's even begun. "I can't let them see that I care for you the way I do, little one."

Louis stops all his actions and artwork on Harry's skin. His eyes lift from the man's torso his the man's gaze and Harry _holds him_ because Louis can't be allowed to leave him. "What?"

Harry swallows, feeling terribly aggravated for all this blistering discomfort within him. He was always angry on the outside, physically abusive or shouting, but never possessed such conflict. "They can't-"

"You don't want me there?" 

"No." Harry feels like a monster looking on Louis' pure self, about to tell him something so disgusting. "They must think I haven't changed, that I'm just the way I was before I met you."

"So-" Louis' hands settle on Harry's forearms, his thumbs right over the man's pulse. He's scrunching up his brow in confusion and a little something else, that's sadder and horrified. "-you want me there...for what?"

"They won't touch you, little one. I won't _ever_ let them." Harry vows, looking so truthful as he realises where Louis' horror originated. Letting himself even think of another set of hands touching Louis made him angry enough to curl his fists and turn flushed with rage. 

"Then _what_ , Harry?" Louis pleads with the man to be told. He feels out of breath waiting for this.

Harry knows his heart beats but never has he felt it through his ribcage before. "I have to ignore you. I have to be my old self, the way I never want to behave around you."

Louis pulls away so that his back is being dug into by the table's edge, his hands circling Harry's forearms. "Ignore me?"

Harry nods rigidly, visibly hateful of the thought by the hardened look in his bloody eyes. 

"What else?" Louis asks, scared. As he bows his head to hide his expression, the darkest part of his brain knows _what else._

"I'm not sure, little one." Harry is rubbing Louis' sides, small circular motions over his goosebumps. He looks at Louis and he's seeing _into_ those beautiful blue eyes, wearing its hurt just like Louis can feel it. "I'm so sorry to ask this of you, _macushla_. It feels murderous. I want to be nothing but faithful to you."

Louis has never done well with emotion. He hated that weakness of his, feeling spineless when he pretended to be strong at heart and mind. His body was not something he was insecure about, but his mind was. He was young when the old world went to Hell and when his mother wasn't around, there were jabs from brutal youngsters to poke at the fact that he was _odd_.

It made him paranoid and that feeling hasn't surfaced because Harry was helping him heal even if the man didn't know. Those stitches were being strained now as Harry asked this of him. He felt insignificant when he shouldn't. Or did he? Louis whimpered when his thoughts got all muddled and he _didn't know what to think._

"Little one." Harry was so attuned to him, framing Louis' lovely face and kissing his soft lips. He couldn't taste a thing but Louis' smiles were like honey, his giggles like candy. His whimpers were the line between Heaven and Hell. "Don't, little one. Don't let it confuse you."

Louis feels futuristic images float into his paranoia, worsening it with these emotional steroids. Harry has to have him there to treat him with disinterest, sit next to him but utterly ignore him. He has to be by his husband's side for his husband to disrespect him. 

Harry's old self never really died but it was buried away and only displayed for seconds at a time. He now has to spend an entire night convincing old men that he is just as invincible as before. Louis feels sick when he thinks about this, and his habit to over think leads him to all sorts of possibilities. 

What if Harry has to _socialise_ with other consorts? Those more suited and are interested in him. What if he has to hold their arm or kiss their cheek? Louis will have to be in the same room but he _can't do anything_ if his husband needs to feign disloyalty. He feels bile in his throat and anxiety pound into the frailest portion of his skull. 

"No." He shakes his head and pushes away the insecurities with that word. "I can't."

"Baby." Harry begs to be understood when he didn't know his own standpoint. "I can't help this."

"You can." Louis fires back. "You can let them see us together and if you feel threatened, tighten security afterwards."

Harry didn't want to hear this, but even more so he didn't want Louis to be getting off him. He curls his fingers into the boy's shirt but Louis huffs and whines, prying them off him. 

"Harry!" He cries out when his husband doesn't let him go. He needs air and free thought. 

"Little one." Harry is so sorry. He releases Louis, full of regret and pain when he stands up too. 

Louis is turned away from him, back hunched over and shoulders pulled in on himself. "You're _my_ husband. I can't pretend like we haven't put new meaning to that, Harry."

"Please." Harry's hands grip Louis' shoulders and he kisses the top of the trembling boy's head. 

"No." Louis sniffs. "You're going to have me there to look at you stand with someone else? That's sick, Harry."

"Baby." Harry screwed his eyes shut and realised that he's more than a monster. "I have to. If they know the truth they'll think they can use you. They will hurt you, little one."

"You'll protect me." Louis sounds heartbroken. His voice is soft, uncertain. "Won't you?"

"Of course." Harry wraps his arms around Louis' shoulders, tightening up until he can feel Louis' hand on his bicep. "I will protect you to my death, little one, but I don't want to risk anything."

Louis looks away when Harry tries to kiss his cheek. He feels like his heart has been plucked out through bone and tissue. "What if it doesn't work? It would have been for nothing."

"That won't happen." Harry assures him, grappling onto threads for pleas. "It will work."

"You'd let me stand there-" Louis felt his eyes sting, his mind conjuring the most frightening images for him to fear. "-to be neglected on purpose?"

Harry rushes to answer, to swear it isn't true of his actual feelings. "Louis-"

"What if one of those old bastards asks for something from me?" Louis shivers with fright and disgust, feeling nauseous as he sways unsteadily. "You're going to be your old self then too." 

"Absolutely not. I will fucking _end_ them." Harry buries his identity in Louis' neck. He makes such an obvious pained sound that it slashes his throat and unkindly bashes his sincerity. "I won't let them, little one."

"You can't say that. You just said you'd have to act like you hate me. They'll want to know why you said no if you do." Louis' mind was running so wild with possibilities that he was rambling, talking to his imagination. He feels a tear sitting on the bank of his eye. "The first dinner with my husband and you're going to hire me out."

"No!" Harry bellowed, stinging Louis with his earnest. 

He cupped Louis' cheek and kissed him fervently even if there was no response at all, feeling those warm turning ice lips on his. He turned Louis around and embraced him, cradling the back of his boy's head and kissing him again. Harry feels like he's lived a thousand deaths hearing Louis' words.

"You're _my_ little one, mine only." Harry's lips are pressed to Louis' forehead, closing his eyes so Louis can take in his dedication. 

"Doesn't matter, does it?" Louis let's the tear fall. He feels it land on his thumb. "You won't care tonight."

Harry knows he can take a dagger to every pressure point in his body and it won't feel half as hurtful as this. He was a bastard for ever thinking it would be right to treat Louis like a pawn himself. "Forgive me, my little one. I'm so sorry."

Louis sheds another tear and he hugs Harry back, arms and legs around the man so he's off the ground. He feels so safe with Harry. He wishes that Harry could feel his pain, realise that Louis cares so much and that this feels like all his efforts are in vain. "If you really want this, Harry, I will do it."

"What?" Harry doesn't want it, didn't want it before. He needed it for the both of them, for Louis to be safe. 

Louis already has a dagger driven right through him, a bleeding heart its target. He never thought he'd be asked to do this when he should have. Harry seemed so proud of their union when it was no longer strained, and Louis thought he could be free enough to express their happiness. 

"Yes." Louis sucks in a sharp breath to keep from saying what he truly wants to. He traced it into Harry's skin, small words that mean everything. "Promise to....not touch anyone else?"

"Yes." Harry answers immediately. "You have my word, little one. No one."

"Okay." Louis nodded, tracing those words again. "Fine."

Louis started to break free of Harry's hold on him but got so far as to have his back turned before Harry caught his hand again. He was looking so devastated, such a mirror of Louis' own hurt. They both had to do things that were not just unappealing, but horrifying. 

"I care about you." Harry blurts when he's searching Louis' side profile for a semblance of feeling. He yearns for Louis to return the words.

It felt like such a sting yet it puts a bandaid over the striking wounds Louis sustained in this meeting. "I care about you too, Harry."

**_[A/N: Thoughts? :) :) :) - S xx]_ **


	10. Chapter Ten.

**_[A/N: You people are so mean to Edward! What has he ever done to you?! My poor bub. I feel like we should celebrate ten chapters. I'm gonna bake a cake. - S xx]_ **

Louis has been staring at himself in the mirror for twenty minutes. He hasn't picked out any flaws because his own insecurities lay in the mind, not his body. The main reason for Niall sitting on a loveseat behind him with Snow on his lap, was the fact that their tailor just dropped off his suit. 

It's a lovely fabric, sewn elegantly in its white purity. Louis felt that it fit him like a glove, around every curve and over every joint. The shirt was soft cotton with black buttons down the front, just the perfect tad of strangeness that stood for his personality. He had a bow-tie that he tried on and liked because it was black to match his buttons. His pants were white and his shoes were spotless raven. 

"It's lovely, Lou." Niall comments from behind him, still petting Snow's fur. "I've known you for a few hours and I can tell it's just for you."

Louis did like it very much. He smiled at his reflection before retiring from the mirror to sit on the bed with Niall. "Will you be at the dinner?"

Niall shrugs while Louis takes off his shoes and tosses his bow-tie onto the bed. "Wasn't invited."

"I'm inviting you." Louis has no intention of spending the future traumatic night entirely alone. Harry can pick a fight with him directly if there's an issue with Niall and Liam attending. "Please come."

"Sure." Niall chirps with an undying grin for Snow when the puppy rolls onto his back. "I'm not going to turn down the opportunity of food."

"I hate you, you know." Louis plants his head on Niall's shoulder. "You and your high metabolism."

Louis neatly folds his suit back into case it arrived in and gave it to the young woman who attends to all his essentials. She will iron and mend whatever needs it before returning it at the perfect time for him to get ready. Niall offers for them to sneak some food in from the kitchen but Louis doesn't feel like eating. He doesn't feel like doing anything.

Not only has his day been spoilt but Louis is absolutely _dreading_ the moment when he has to retire for bed and climb into bed with Harry. He doesn't know what he's going to say after this dinner, regardless of how it turns out. Harry is upset too, there's no doubt about it after Louis left him looking like an attacked puppy. 

"Wait." He pounces on something he heard from Niall earlier. _Harry Styles._ "You knew my husband's name. How did you know his name was Harry?"

Niall shrugs like it isn't a big deal when Louis' troubled gaze lands on him. "My family has worked for his for so long, we learnt it along the way."

"Oh." Louis clears his throat and picks at his nails mindlessly. _Harry Styles_. What a name, so fitting for a man like him. "I'll be right back."

Louis leaves Niall flabbergasted with a kiss on his temple before jogging out of the room. He feels refuelled by a new purpose and cannot budge it, a smile plastered on his facial expression. His feet carry him swiftly down the staircase and around the bend again to Harry's closed study. No knock or call, Louis barges in with both hands shoving the door.

He first has to discern that the man leaning over a table about to turn around is the only possible silhouette in the room. Louis grins, unafraid. "Harry Styles, is it?"

The only other occupant of the room spins around with a partially shocked, otherwise angered look in his eye. Harry takes in his lovely partner in his closing doorway and takes a deep breath. He expected to be locked out of their bedroom at night, for a vase to be hurled at him when he broke in. It confused him greatly when this fine specimen sauntered over to him across the carpet, grabbing hold of his forearms.

"Little one." Harry steals his chance to kiss Louis' forehead, his special boy. "I thought you'd never forgive me."

"I thought about it." Louis swallowed the lump in his throat and blushed when Harry's fingers curl around his elbows, their faces brought impossibly close. "I know you're doing it for us."

It was profoundly difficult for Louis to accept this. He doesn't want to face the evening ahead without his husband at his side, but a tragically realistic subconscious reminds him that some things are bigger than them. His better self ought to decide that Harry truly is devote, and loyal to him. Harry won't go farther than his boundaries, Louis trusts him.

Nonetheless, Louis was still stubborn on the subject. He smiled and to Harry's face he was dutiful, but at the back of his mind he was trembling. Louis feared so many things and this dinner is now at the forefront. It made him sick and his tummy twist into awful knots. 

"I am." Harry leaned closer because he can't resist, and pecks Louis' lips. "I truly am."

Louis feels _safe_ looking into those unmistakable ruby eyes, deep red like the shedding of blood but bright like the gem itself. He smiles at those beautiful eyes and kisses Harry tenderly when he's allowed to. "I believe you."

"Thank you." Harry pulls Louis' arms around him so he can embrace his husband. "Now, where did you learn my last name?"

"So that really is your last name?" Louis closes his eyes and nuzzles Harry's chest, the spot that's reserved for him. He hums delightedly at being comforted so warmly. 

Harry kisses the top of his head. "Yes." 

"Okay." Louis turned his face into Harry's neck at the same time that his husband mirrored the act. He sighed contentedly at the shivers generated by Harry's warm breath fanning over his neck. "That's a cool name, Styles."

"Thank you, little one." Harry's chuckle was soft and subtle, branded into Louis' throat the way so many other endearments were. "Is that what you're here for?"

"Maybe." Louis chimes, at peace to have Harry reach down so that he can be picked up. His thighs instinctively ensnare Harry's waist in a circle, and he doesn't bat an eye at feeling two hands grope his bum. Into scorching eyes he looks, his forehead against Harry's. "I want to confess something to you, Harry Styles."

"Yes, little one?" Harry tilts his head back so that Louis doesn't have to in order to receive a delicate kiss on his forehead. 

Louis' palms are on Harry's shoulders, his hips captured by the coil of Harry's tail. "I really like you."

Harry smiles against Louis' skin and looks down from the ceiling into Louis' returning gaze. "Horns and all?"

"Duh." Louis hoists himself a bit higher - Harry has become accustomed to his husband's habit of trying to _climb_ him. He combs a path through Harry's hair so that he may reveal those two miniature bones, kiss each one. "You're really tall."

Harry can only kiss Louis' Adam's Apple from this angle and he laughs throatily, ceasing such an opportunity. "I have to be when you choose to treat me like a tree, little one."

Louis doesn't argue but he does squawk when Harry suddenly drops him onto his own feet. It's a punishable crime by the deathly glare he gives his smirking husband. Harry kisses him deeply, grasping his hips and licking into his sweet mouth, so that soon all is forgiven.

"I won't get to dance with you tonight-" Harry says mournfully, walking to a drawer by the wall under a horrid picture frame of nature. He opens a gramophone's plastic tinted lid and positions the needle to hear the click on an old record. "-and I didn't get to dance with you at our wedding."

Louis stands idly in the middle of an embroidered rug with a beet red blush on his cheeks, heat skimming his face and neck. He smothers his sheepish smile with biting his lip but it does little for the butterflies in his belly when Harry strides back to him, holding out his hand in a graceful bow.

"May I have this dance?" He asks, smooth like liquid arousal and husky. 

With such a smouldering gaze on him, Louis can't find his voice. His fingers tingle with electricity when they meet Harry's and he is reeled in, a squeak on his lips, to collide with the man's chest. He looks up and it's like seeing Harry under a different light, a charming man in a devilish suit. 

Louis let's him have a kiss followed by another chaste one, breathing raggedly when Harry's arm slides around his waist rather than stopping at his lower back. He squeezes Harry's hand where their fingers are connected, and whimpers involuntarily from a nip to his bottom lip.

"I didn't think you liked him." Louis whispers about Elvis' _Can't Help Falling In Love_ fills the room from ceiling to floor, window to window. 

Harry's lips meet Louis' cheek. "When I think of my childhood, I can only recall this man's voice so clearly."

Louis feels a flood of sadness at the statement. He grips Harry a little harder and allows his body to be commanded in their gentle swaying motions. Their footing is even and slow, languid like everything intimate they do. There's no rush ever. Just two souls sewn so close and dear to one another. 

"Do you think it's going to rain?" Louis asks after a while when he's looking out the window onto the meadow. The sky is grey and the trees are blowing in strong winds. 

"Doesn't matter." Harry mumbles, his mind one floor above them where he and Louis are tucked into their bedroom away from the intruders and the responsibilities of an unforgiving world. "I'll protect you from anything."

And Louis laughs because _obviously_ Harry would take a warrior appeal to this question. He can sense that his husband is otherwise occupied with the juncture of his neck, the smooth plane of skin that stretches over his pulse. It's one of Harry's favourite places to be in the universe, swathed in Louis' glow like he could ever be part of it.

"Love?" The younger male coaxes Harry back to Earth, twirling one of the man's curls around his finger. He kisses Harry's cheek so that his lips stick to his husband's skin, smiling at the little growl he manages to elicit from him. 

Harry's hands tighten inexplicably on Louis' behind, more firmly announcing his posssessiveness. They're still swaying to the muted music and neither wants it to end. Harry gave Louis' pulse an open-mouthed kiss that let the boy know he was listening, leaving the skin damp and littered with goosebumps.

"Did you see your suit I sent up?" Harry asked when he sensed that Louis had slipped under, lazily leaning on him as they danced. 

"Hmm." Louis detached his hand from Harry's and slid it across the man's shoulders, needing to be on his tiptoes to maintain their positions. "It looks pretty."

"Does it?" Harry chuckles, devious hands slipping under Louis' thighs to pick him up, standing as an island in the center of his study. "I thought you might like the colour variation."

"I do. It's almost entirely my style." Louis nips at the tip of Harry's nose with a giggle. "I am impressed."

"I suppose I deserved that insult." Harry scoffs heartily into Louis' neck.

"What insult?" His husband enquires, innocent as ever. 

Harry silences his protests as they tumble out with a furious kiss, landing squarely on his lips. He smirks into that union so that Louis melts like he loves to into it, sighing in contentment. Harry's kisses make him feel gooey inside and secure all around him. Nothing could touch him, cause him any harm when his husband was wrapped around him this way.

  
* * * * *  


"I've never done this before." Louis tells Harry nervously, worrying his bottom lip until it's bursting with red pigment from frustration. 

Harry's thumb frees Louis' lip from the torture and he kisses him, both lips cushioning that throbbing one. "There has to be a first time, little one."

Louis blushes again and it's so lovely to witness. Harry stands up straighter to make the task less of a burden, but it was still uncoordinated by Louis' height disadvantage. The boy got a stool from the closet and stood on it, ignoring Harry's chuckles while he did his tie.

Harry's suit was pitch black and proper in that every crease was absent, not a single loose thread. He had a navy tie over his silk black dress shirt, as Louis had just done it - after asking Niall to teach him. Louis could feel Harry's stare on him while he set the man's collar and looked up at the last second. 

There was a storm of conflicting emotions rushing into Harry's system. He looked pained and infuriated, yearning but scared. "I'm sorry, little one."

Louis smiled at Harry's apology, knowing exactly what it's for. "It's alright. I still care about you." 

Harry put his hands on Louis' waist and leaned in for his kiss. It was long and full of unspoken feelings, his frown relaxing because Louis smelled like innocence. His husband made him smile. "I am dreading this dinner suddenly."

"Don't do that." Louis shakes his head and frames Harry's worried face, kissing him all over. "This is important to you."

Harry looks at Louis when he hears that. He cancelled their night together, moved it to a more suitable time for this dinner. It wasn't nearly as treasured to him as Louis. "When we survive tonight, little one, I am locking us in this room for the entirety of tomorrow."

Louis giggled, a short musical chorus. "Talk is cheap, Harry."

They are alone for their time supposed to be spent getting ready. The bedroom is dark from closed curtains and a jobless light bulb. Aside from the window letting in subtle sunlight from the meadow, they're truly on their own even from nature.

Louis hops down from his stool and squeals when Harry takes it upon himself to do the hoisting. He picks his husband right up again to dump him unceremoniously on the bed. Harry disables all Louis' chances of recovering by crawling over his wiggling form and connecting their lips.

"What's this then?" Louis gasps when their kiss breaks and he can spread his legs to accommodate Harry between them.

Harry growled into Louis' neck when a knock on the door came to intervene. He asked that they only be disturbed upon the arrival of their first guest. "Wish me luck, little one."

Louis caught Harry gently by his ears for one last kiss, his heart pounding in his chest to say something other than what he actually does. He looks at his husband and his lips quiver with their aching desire to _say it_. "Try to have fun at least."

  
* * * * *  


Niall sat on the bed of Louis' old room in the house, waiting for Liam to finish getting ready in the closet. Louis himself was in the bathroom. He wanted to shower and be an tempting as ever for Harry to see and be provoked towards breaking his promise. Louis knew how selfish that sounded and his excuse would be that he has every right to look good. 

There was also a certain _excitement_ building in his gut when he thinks that Harry will have to spend an entire evening looking at Louis in his well-fitted suit from afar. He has every bit of faith in his husband that Harry will dominate him into letting him take full advantage of Louis' beauty in any amount of clothing.

Louis tried on the suit again at the full length body mirror and even he could admire how the fabric hugged his curves in the perfect ways. He shied away from all that vanity after too few heartbeats, and put some of his favoured fragrance on - vanilla with something spicy it was. Louis chose to stay without his suit jacket and stepped out of the bathroom to drape it over a chair back.

"Ready?" Liam was out already and Niall was tying his tie for him, a deep grey one.

"Yup." Louis smoothened the front of his crisp white shirt and took a shaky breath. "Let's go."

He tried not to think of the more undesirable possibilities for the night and walked out of the sanctity of this bedroom. Louis was holding Niall's hand because they were friends and that was allowed, he also needed grounding as they reached the staircase and Louis saw couples of strange faces entering his home.

Louis isn't happy about this. He can see these well-groomed individuals setting foot into their foyer with their boisterous laughter and obnoxious attire. There's a vindictive part of him that just wants to chase them all back out on their asses with a broom and some detergent sprayed at their hair.

"It's going to be fine." Niall reassures him, playing the part of a supportive companion.

"Yeah." Louis takes a deep breath and feels Snow restlessly circling his ankle for attention. He picks the puppy off the ground and holds him close. 

The raucous noise filters through the house to the dining room. Louis ducks underneath the staircase and follows the echoes behind Liam, ending at the dining room doors. There is a grand commotion of fake chatting and plastic niceties on the other side, the popping of champagne and clinking of glasses following the shouts of toasts already.

"Don't they work fast, eh?" Niall ridicules a bunch of older men seated around the center circle table, cigars at hand and wives giggling at something out of their eye-line.

Louis laughs and waves at Alfie who stands to attendance at the door, greeting guests politely but only once truly relaxing when Louis brushes his arm. The boy is such a gentle presence around the mansion, full of smiles and beauty that he never kept to himself. 

He will now admit that the servants did a spectacular job of decorating the dining room. The ceiling that was well above their heads were covered in uniformed loops of streamers, an entire colour spectrum whenever one looked up at them. A chandelier was low hanging and absolutely breathtaking in all its majesty, precious crystals glittering from the fluorescent glow. 

Tables were organised sporadically with white linen cloth and covered, cushioned seats. Each had a purple bow around the back and Louis remembers giving one of the organisers that idea. The tables had two centrepieces: a transparent crystal vase filled with blue and red flowers, beside a steel bucket of a variety of alcohol.

"Damn." Niall looks all around him and slips his arm around Liam's bicep when his husband comes to stand beside him. "It's beautiful."

"I'll say." Louis scans the crowd on a whim and comes up with the sight of his husband separated from him by many tables. 

He's in a circle of four men, all young and forsakenly attractive though they pale in comparison to Louis' husband. They're holding flutes of amber except Harry and laughing to themselves. Harry stops sooner than they do while they sip their champagne, and he looks just once across the crowd to see Louis walk in. 

Their eyes meet for several moments, and Louis chews anxiously on his lip when the wild chills race down his spine. He watches Harry narrow his eyes at Niall's close proximity to him and thusly Liam to them both. Louis swallows thickly when the heat of Harry's stare returns to him, admires his form in that well fitted suit and moves on. 

"That was icy." Niall saw the whole thing down to the last instant when Louis had to look down at his shoes because Harry's companions all turned his way. 

"Yeah." Louis cleared his throat and winced at the creepy sensation from so many eyes turned on him. "Let's go find something to drink."

The bar is an excellent set-up at the far end of the room and Louis plants himself in a seat against the wall, never to move. Niall sits next to him but Liam insists that he hasn't seen one person that he came to visit, and must catch up now. Louis grins when he recognises the bartender to be one of the kitchen boys. 

"You look quite posh this evening, Shelly." He puts on his best look of being impressed to mask what disappointment lurks evilly beneath the surface. 

The youth had a mask over his eyes, as Louis had noticed with all the staff present here. Each was different and all elegant. Shelly's was sheer black and perfectly crafted to the bridge of his nose and to end just at his hairline.

"You bet." Shelly pulled something out from under the counter and slid it over to Louis. It was a bowl of chocolate nuts. "Remembered how much you liked 'em."

"Aw. Thank you." Louis sets the bowl between Niall and himself, standing up to meekly hug Shelly. "So how long are you going to be here?"

Snow wiggled on Louis' lap and yapped out of boredom when he rolled onto his back. Louis would never neglect his lovely pup and winked at the baby animal while rubbing its belly. 

"Whole night." Shelly answers after he returns from serving some other patron, polishing a glass. 

"That's crazy." Niall pipes up, popping one of the chocolates into his mouth. "You're going to be exhausted."

"Why didn't someone arrange shifts for you?" Louis enquires with a concerned frown. Who knows how long this night will be and it is cruel to let one person serve the entire time.

"Don't know." Shelly shrugs his shoulders and goes to make a cocktail. 

Niall sighs while Louis feeds himself some chocolate with a clean hand, looking around the room to pointedly ignore _a specific_ portion of the dining room. He let's his head hang between his shoulders when he starts to sense that people know who he is, how he's connected to Harry, and want to envy or disparage him all night.

"They're really uh-" Niall notices as well, one by one as the parties of people glance their way and frown or glare in disgust. "They're really _looking_."

"Yeah." Louis laughs humourlessly when he raises his head and pops another chocolate in his mouth. "That's a pleasant way of putting it."

Louis sees one group of young ladies in nearly identical gowns with varying colours, all looking at him like he's beneath him. He tosses them a wink before smiling at Niall's cackle. The last thing he's going to do tonight is allow anyone to demean him.

"For you." Shelly comes back with drinks for both Niall and Louis, the latter's being a tall glass of something resembling the sunset. "From a friend of mine."

"What?" Louis has to shout just as he listens to the music picking up its volume, pile-driving into each guest's ears. "Who is it?!"

Shelly chuckles and tosses a rag over his shoulder. "Lad by the door."

Louis and Niall both swing around to an appropriate angle and pause when the door comes into view. His height disadvantages him such that Louis has to stand up on the midway bar of his stool, peering over the tall heads in the crowd. 

He spots someone that's replaced Alfie as the welcoming staff member. In a prim black tuxedo and a matching mask over his eyes, Louis cannot identify the handsome stranger. He has olive tanned skin that's inked up to the back of his hands, trailing onto his neck. Although the attractive unfamiliar individual isn't looking their way, he is smirking so vividly to himself.

"I don't recognise him." Louis tells Shelly after he sits down again, wiping some of the condensation off the glass with a tissue.

"Name is Zayn." Shelly tells him, wiping down the counter. "He likes to piss Master off."

"Ah." Louis nods cautiously whilst swirling his umbrella in his gifted drink, well aware that Zayn buying a drink for him is something that could rile Harry up. "That's not very wise, is it?"

"Nah." Shelly shakes up another cocktail for a woman with crow's feet. "He's known Master longer than all of us, even Alfie. Probably makes an exception."

"Okay." Louis giggles at Niall downing his drink in one go. "Where does he work?"

"In the stables." 

Louis and Niall finish the chocolates while Snow falls asleep on Niall's lap, and Louis seeks out his husband an hour after sitting down. Harry is occupied with a gathering of worshippers a further distance away and his sentence seems to be abruptly chopped when Louis' eyes land on him. It's just the attack of his chest tightening and lungs constricting for Louis, but Harry's gaze lifts over everyone to see Louis. 

He looks at his husband and if anyone knew Harry the way Louis did, they'd know that Louis wasn't the only one longing.

"Are we going to sit here all night?" Niall pulls Louis' attention away and the act alone seems to hurt. 

Louis clears his throat and closets his hurt. He hasn't tasted the drink from the mysterious Zayn character because he can't handle the thought of participating in a ploy to anger his Harry. "What would you like to do?"

"People are on the dancefloor." Niall gestures to the numerous pairs dancing a few feet away. "Why don't we join them?"

"I don't lead." Louis pouts and watches Niall hand Snow over the counter to Shelly where the puppy will be safe. 

"That's alright. I think I remember how to." Niall scratches the bridge of his nose to appear as if he's thinking and unbuttons the front of his suit jacket. "C'mon."

By the time they reach the center of the dancefloor, Louis is laughing at Niall's short practise motions. The beautiful and melodious voice of one the most familiar female artists from the old world is playing above their heads, and she carries everyone in slow dance. Louis doesn't waste his opportunity to try searching for Harry but being on the ground in a mass of people taller than him was aggravating enough.

"You're a good dancer." He says to Niall when they're two moments away from being in total tandem with the music. 

"Thanks." Niall chuckles. "Should I be one of those perverted lead dancers that squeezes your ass?"

"No thanks." Laughter follows Louis' retort. "That sort of access is limited, Niall."

"I think I have to let go when the song changes." Niall says seriously, adding to Louis' nerves. 

The pattern was being followed by everyone on the dancefloor as partners were swapped at each change of tune. Louis couldn't see him but Harry was watching his form, swathed in ridiculous and toxic jealousy. He swallowed his third glass of bourbon before slamming it down on a waiter's tray and whispering an instruction to that servant. 

Not before long, he excused himself from the people revering him to remove his jacket and drape it over another servant's shoulder. Harry heard the last notes of the song and strode over to the dancefloor's edge, stepping in when the moment was right.

Straight into his arms spun the boy he craved. Louis wasn't expecting Harry and since his back was what connected to the man's chest, he was entirely shocked to see his husband after being turned. His eyes grew wide and his first instinct was to step back but Harry was quick to sabotage that retreat.

"Stay." Harry wrapped his arm around Louis' back and cupped his cheek, breathing for the first time in so long because Louis is with him. 

They weren't even moving and people hadn't noticed that they were reunited. Louis looked so _scared_ and all the servants were looking their way, intrigued by their Master's actions. Harry saw Louis' lip quiver and felt his fingers tremble from anxiety, but shook his head to say he didn't care. He clasped Louis' hips and pulled him closer, kissing the top of Louis' forehead.

"I caved, little one." Harry mumbled into Louis' temple, stepping back so Louis was drawn out of the dancing crowd with him. "I can't stand there. I can't have you so far from me."

"You're drunk." Louis smelt alcohol on Harry's breath and sank into his embrace nonetheless. "Harry, what are you doing?"

Harry cradled the back of Louis' head and closed his eyes. He was whole with Louis and he hasn't been able to win any hearts whilst pretending that Louis didn't absolutely complete him. "I want them to see. I want them to _dare_ try taking you from me."

Louis saw that the first few buttons of Harry's shirt was undone beneath his loosened tie. He bit his lip from a rush of emotion; his need for Harry and fear of having that taken from him. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

Harry kissed the top of Louis' head and answered in the affirmative. "I'll risk anything for you, little one."

"What brought this on?" Louis had to know. He could feel Harry leaning into him and gasped at the man's insistent nuzzle into his neck.

"I saw you at the bar with that Niall chap. I kept watching you when I was supposed to be selling my superiority." Harry made a humourless effort to laugh cynically. "I saw others looking at you.....like you were _fucking nothing_. Like you aren't _mine_ and shouldn't be respected. Maybe you can handle it, baby, but I can't. I don't know why I thought I could."

Louis felt breathless and wounded at the end of Harry's short speech. He ran his hand up the man's shoulder into his curls and closed his eyes to the sensation of Harry's lips nibbling on his skin. The breath in his lungs hitched at the same time that he choked, leading to a soft whimper. 

"My beauty." Harry slid his hands down and gripped Louis firmly where he shouldn't in public, letting his teeth latch onto Louis' neck to suck a bruise into it. "All mine."

"H-Harry." Louis saw _so many eyes_ turning towards them and he whined at the dagger sensation they held. 

"Lou." It felt like it was fading into the background, this sweet voice of his husband's, and coming back closer to belonging to another. "Louis. Are you sleeping?"

Shaking himself out of the trance his mind had fallen into, Louis realises that his chin was on Niall's shoulder and he was staring unblinkingly at a pillar. Niall was still leading him in slow dance swaying, but Louis was not much away from falling so entirely into a dream of Harry storming over to him and proclaiming that their marriage was more important than a stupid reputation.

"Sorry." He blinked away the emotion from the rims of his eyes and stood up straight. "What did I miss?"

"Where were you?" Niall let's Louis pull back a little so that there's space between their fronts. 

"Nowhere." Louis feigns genuine laughter and listens to the death of another song. "Are we switching?"

"Yeah. Sorry but I don't think I can break that rule again." Niall shrugs apologetically and Louis pecks his cheek to say it's forgiven.

The note dies and Louis is spun around fluidly, his arms granted to the new partner that captures them. The hands already don't feel right, too wrinkled and small. He takes a shaky breath when his back is to that person, muttering an indecipherable prayer before he's turned around and his hope shrivels.

"Hello there." This tall but elderly man greets him, a sly grin taking over his features as he recognises Louis.

"Hello." Louis is absolutely careful to keep a distance between their bodies but remains polite. He doesn't want to be a poor reflection on Harry.

This man has a grey stubble and brown hair that's turning white at the roots, an effortless style to its short length. He is in an impeccable navy suit but the look in his eye cannot be surpassed with disregard. Louis is unnerved by it being so concentrated on him.

"Louis, correct?" He tries for conversation again with his much younger dance partner.

"Yes." Louis flashes him a quick smile and goes back to counting down the seconds for this song to be over.

"Martin." The stranger introduces himself, a slip of his hand brining it closer to Louis' lower back. 

He reaches around and hikes it up higher again, much to Martin's disdain. "Nice to meet you, Martin."

"I wouldn't care much about this, sugar." Martin dares to drop his hand again, even lower this time and disengages Louis' efforts to remove it with overpowering strength. "I'd make your husband even richer for you."

Louis squirmed deliberately and desperately to break free. Whimpers of agonised imprisonment that nobody around them seemed to care for, came from him. Louis scratched Martin's wrist to do _everything_ he could to prevent being groped by a stranger and felt tears prickle to the corners of his frightened eyes. Fear was paralysing him because this _treatment_ is what terrified him most. 

"Get off." He spoke weakly to not raise his voice, and pushed vigorously after a scream somewhere else in the crowd distracted everyone. Two tears scorched their way down his cheeks. "Please, _stop_."

Martin was persistent but that ended before Louis could verbalise his fright again. Tears were rolling freely down his face by the time someone shoved his aggressive partner off him, grabbing Louis' forearm so he didn't go down as well. 

Louis hardly saw through his blurred vision when a punch was delivered and everyone around them broke off into frightened clusters. Shouts of some incoherent phrases were heard above the muffling of Louis' ears. He was still held and when that hand got down to his palm, it was enough of a familiar feeling to make him less afraid.

He saw his _husband_ and bit his lip until it bled to make sure he wasn't dreaming. The taste of blood splashed onto his tongue and Louis was reeled into Harry's arms, protectively enveloped by a warm embrace. Shivering and still crying, Louis could feel the vibration of Harry's growling chest and his rigidness of his stature.

Harry didn't even have to say anything to be heard like thunder. He glared so threateningly at Martin through the quickly thinning crowd that the latter stole away faster than light. The guests were scrambling out of the dining room and Louis could hear their urgent calls, their dire need to get out. What had happened?

"Shh." Harry rubbed Louis' back and rocked him gently, letting his lovely husband cry into his chest. He felt so much resentment and remorse that it poisoned him. "Hush, little one. It's alright. You are safe."

"H-H-He tried t-to-"

"No." Harry bent to pick Louis up clean off the floor and heard the dining room doors shut. They were alone. "He wasn't going to. I'd never let that happen, baby. Didn't I promise you that?"

Louis wiped his eyes with Harry's tie and they looked so tired when he pulled back. Bloodshot and bloody lips, Louis was shaking like he was wrought with true fear. Harry can imagine the thoughts going through his boy's head and reassured him with a loving kiss. Louis had a red little nose and heated skin from an impending fever. Harry felt _sick_ as he registered just how scared Louis was that he made himself ill.

"Oh little one." He whispered, at a loss. Harry sat down on the nearest chair and let Louis cling to him, arms and legs a tangle around him. "Don't-"

"I-I-" Louis had something to say in jarbled words and Harry was going to hear it. "I want to go home."

"No, _macushla_." Dread was like ice cold lead in Harry's veins. He hugged Louis so tightly that he wasn't going to risk losing the boy in any lifetime. "I can take care of you here, little one."

"But-" Louis sniffled and wiped his nose with a stray napkin. "I can't do th-this again, H-Harry."

"You don't have to." He will say and do anything to keep Louis with him. Thinking of their separation was like death to Harry. "There will be no more events, little one. None."

"Why did everyone leave?" Louis was still trembling and his head felt so heavy that he had to lay it down on Harry's shoulder. "I heard a-a scream."

"Hmm." Harry took off his jacket and draped it over Louis' shoulders, wrapping his arms around his boy over that layer. "They saw my tail. They're all withdrawing their support because I'm a mutant."

Louis heard no sadness in Harry's voice or disappointment. He saw something akin in gratitude in the man's eyes however and it was so _arrogant_ that he had to giggle. Amidst the residual horror and anger, came this burst of musical laughter that had magical benefits. They were both alone in different aspects and it didn't feel like it.

Harry caught Louis' chin and kissed him lovingly, slow and meaningful. He tasted tears and growled until Louis' palm settled on his chest and it died down. Louis smiled against Harry's lips. He knew full well that his husband didn't need the alliances that came with untrustworthy people, and that their money had no value here. It was them who needed him.

"You saved me." Louis connected their lips again in a more fervent way, heart thumping with excitement in his chest. He let Harry tilt his own head back to welcome Louis' hot little tongue into the confines of his mouth. "I want to reward my hero."

Harry's groan was pained and arguably denied. "In any way you choose to do that, I will be satisfied."

"Good." Louis parted his lips and kissed Harry's cheek, hugging his husband around his neck. "We don't need anybody else, do we?"

"I hardly think so." Harry licked his lips and invited Louis back into another tantalising kiss. "You and I make an extraordinary team, little one."

Louis' cheeks heated up as he accepted that as fact. "Make love to me."

Harry went tense against him and gripped Louis' hips with such strength he nearly snapped the poor boy's pelvis. "Little one, are you entirely sure?"

"Yes." Louis' fingertips grazed Harry's parched lips as he shuffled closer and Harry squeezed his waist reverently, head tossed back so he could lift his petite husband higher. "We are intimate already. I want to go all the way with you."


	11. Chapter Eleven.

**_[A/N: FUN FACT. The first Larry book I ever wrote had its first smut scene also in Chapter Eleven o.O Is it a sign? - S xx]_ **

Nothing could be more intricate that the weaving of two souls and yet that was complete between this married couple. It was the connection of their bodies left to initiate and the act was sacred to them both, so devastatingly intimate. In the safety of their locked bedroom where they were alone together, Louis lay in slight nervousness on the bed while Harry stood at the window.

"I fear something." Harry spoke hoarsely from his post, shutting the curtains and letting his pulsing ruby eyes be the only light for Louis to follow. "That I am more nervous than you."

Louis smiled and felt something lift off his chest for a moment, sitting up in a kneeling position. He was stilled just at the second that Harry also came to a halt in front of him. "Really?"

Harry reached out and took the curve of Louis' cheek in his palm, tilting his husband's face back so their eyes met. With such _minimal_ contact it felt like a spark was etched into their skin. "I am."

"Well I'm super nervous." Louis giggled when Harry laughed at his childish retort. 

He held his breath when Harry leaned forward, gaze darting between his eyes and lips as he inched closer. Their kiss sealed their affections and it felt like an explosion of electricity, of sensuality with just the meshing of their lips. Louis whimpered, a slave just like Harry to its power. His hands fumbled until Harry caught them and set them on his shoulders.

"Maybe I can-" Louis stopped to take a breath and Harry's palms settled on his hips. He looked straight into Harry's fiery eyes and found nothing except desire in them, lust and fondness rolled into an irresistible contortion. "I can help you relax."

Harry smiled for his husband and got a kiss on his cheek. "It could be true because we are already so close, little one. We don't need sex to truly be one."

"I know." Louis' fingers were at Harry's knotted tie and he undid the tangle with swift movements. He pulled the tie free and tossed it aside. Those eyes that met Harry's were baby blue and wide with lust, licked lips and all. "I would still like you inside me please."

 _"Fuck."_ Harry was man enough to know when to cave. He stole a kiss from Louis, long and hard which left their lips bruised. His tongue invaded Louis' senses by force and his fingers created recognisable bruises. "You are going to have a filthy mouth, little one."

Louis pulled Harry back down to him with an arm crooked around the man's neck. He sucked Harry's tongue into his mouth and moaned loudly from the feverish battle between them. It was over with Harry subduing him with a pinch to his glorious posterior. "That's cheating."

"It is." Harry's fingers aptly removed Louis' belt to drop to the ground. He heard Louis' breath hitch. "Are you going to lay back for me, little one?"

Louis nodded obediently and flopped down onto the mattress. On any other person it was unflattering but Louis was so graceful, so curvaceous and undeniably delectable that Harry couldn't swallow his admiration. He peeled off Louis' socks and removed his own shoes and belt.

He looked over Louis' beautiful form and felt his own chest clamp down tight on his racing heart. His husband was utterly breathtaking with his soft skin and kindness, all exuded by the planes of his tanned body. Louis had no idea what thoughts were swirling around Harry's corrupted mind.

Now that the excess clothing was shed, Harry could mind his crawl up to Louis' level. He stopped when he was directly above his wide-eyed husband, taking a moment to admire Louis' flushed skin disappearing beneath his collar and twitching fingers. 

"You were beautiful tonight." Harry rested his weight after waiting for Louis to spread his legs. Undoubtedly, this would become Harry's favourite spot to be where his hips are cradled and his body is moulded to fit Louis'. 

Louis blushed, light pink and well dispersed. His smile was so endearing that Harry chuckled admirably before kissing him, taking time to unfurl the fists of his husband's hands. 

"You think I didn't see you?" He could lower his voice, speak _just_ to his Louis. Their foreheads were together and their lips brushed whenever either partner spoke. "You were the only thing I could focus on."

"Kiss me." Louis commanded and he surged forward without a thought. 

Their lips were tangled like their limbs and Louis whined when Harry insisted his arms be around him. He opened his lips and tasted Harry on his tongue, revelled in the intrusive warmth. It sparked something anxious and needy in the pit of his belly so that he leaned up more suitably for Harry to delve into his mouth. 

Louis knotted Harry's hair with how tight his fingers were in those messy curls. He felt his lips throb from the constant attacks, teeth and tongues clashing to the rhythm of panting hearts. Harry's hands were on him, at his hips and waist on a venture to keep their bodies near.

Breath began to elude them and Harry didn't want to pull away. He could die tied up with Louis and he would be content. Instead, he withdrew for only a heartbeat so that both of them could take a gasp of air before desperately intertwining again.

Louis used the energy sweeping through his excitable body to bend his knees and curve his body to Harry's. He arches to tilt his back a bit and moans in accordance to the calloused hands slipping beneath him rubbing his back in their efforts to pull at the fabric of his shirt. 

"You are-" Harry's mouth shifts along a path behind Louis' ear and down to his neck, sucking on his pulse which he knew was the boy's weak spot. "-so sweet, little one." 

He was done with a vibrant red bruise on Louis' neck before moving to a new spot. Easily the frail skin was tugged between his molars and he smirked at Louis' delicious whimper, his helplessness making Harry feel more dominant. He alternated between suckling and nibbling to highlight the blood gushing underneath Louis' skin. 

"Harry. Harry, please-" Louis fussed while he could still speak in coherent sentences, fumbling between their heated bodies to undo his husband's buttons. "Too many clothes."

In a moment of clarification, Harry caught Louis' hands and kissed his wrists before each fingertip. He breathed deeply to inhale Louis' scent when he returned to the boy's throat, forcefully bending Louis' neck at an angle to get more access. The discomfort in his pants grew from negligible to throbbing and insistent. 

"Arms up." Harry commanded and left no room for error by hiking Louis' hands above his head and kissing him blind.

Fortunately, the union of their starved lips was so much of a drug that Harry's fingers laboured through their mission of stripping Louis' shirt. They remained curled into the expensive fabric while Louis' arms returned to around his neck, smiling against Harry's mouth as they moved in perfect synchronisation.

"Pull me up?" Louis kissed his request onto Harry's jaw and giggled when a pained grumble left his husband. He blinked innocently and peered up through his lashes because _he was aware_ of how convincing that was. "Please, Daddy?"

Harry's face was in his neck and he did not hold back from punishing Louis with a hasty plunge of his teeth into the boy's neck. He drew noises from Louis' sinful pink lips by sucking on his skin and dragging his tongue over the mistreated areas. Louis squeaked when he felt himself being lifted with much effort on the part of his husband.

To help, Louis framed Harry's face and kissed him hard. He could feel the curl of his smile and giggled continually while Harry tried to balance both their weight. Louis' legs were tightly wrapped around his waist and Harry was enabling just one quivering arm to hoist himself off the mattress.

Harry got onto his haunches and Louis was all around him, finally on his lap in the center of the bed. He could effectively cup Louis' bottom and deepen their kiss without risking a fall. "Satisfied?"

Louis hummed and pulled back to cross his ankles, biting his lip in the least subtle manner of seductiveness when he felt the bulge in Harry's pants. "Daddy has a problem, I see."

"You need to warn me, little one." Harry's fingers pressed down between Louis' cheeks through his jeans and smirked at the catch in his throat. He felt Louis' fingers tighten in his hair. "I may suffer a heart attack from that word."

"That _was_ your warning." Louis whispers lowly, hands returning to the front of Harry's shirt. "I'm taking this off, Daddy." 

Harry's lip curled into something smug and dark with lust. He rested his palms on Louis' bum and straightened his shoulders. "Have at me, little one."

He would soon come to curse and regret that arrogance, for his _little one_ was more than torturous. Louis pecked Harry's lips before popping the second button open and leaning down to kiss the newly exposed skin. Harry hissed from such an unexpected act but growled even louder when Louis didn't _stop._

Harry's skin was toned and hard against Louis' lips. His muscle dipped between his pectorals and Louis did not waste time before trailing the tip of his tongue over Harry's abs. Louis would make it all the way down to Harry's V-line before he was pulled back up, his wrists restrained at his back. The look in his mischievous eyes was one of excitement and no regret.

"So devious." Harry nipped at Louis' lip before capturing it between both of his and kissing him feverishly. 

Louis laughed and his pitch rose several notches in a squeal when Harry tackled him to the mattress again. He was laid out and warned not to move with a punishing bite into his neck, subduing his resistance. The battle was over after Louis pushed Harry's shirt off his shoulders and down his back, whimpering relentlessly when his husband dug his teeth in deeper.

"Daddy." Louis' fingers were looped over Harry's pants waistband because there was an obvious tent in both their trousers and friction was what he needed. "Harry, closer. Please."

"Hmm." Harry's forearms were on either side of Louis' head and he cradled his husband protectively. He let his tongue back into Louis' mouth before grinding down. "Good, little one?"

Louis' head rolled back onto the pillow he caught and he scratched Harry's hips. He could feel the arousal like pure energy thundering through him and stripping him of his senses. His fingers and toes curled into the sheets, body beneath Harry's and rocking gently with him. 

"Can I take this off?" Harry dug his knuckle into Louis' belly button and hooked his finger around the tab of a button.

Louis rushed to take it off himself. He let the shirt fall open and cried out when Harry's mouth found his nipple. Swollen lips over sharper teeth acted upon the swollen nub. The familiar tug of Harry's tail looped around his thigh kept Louis' anchored. 

So many electrifying sensations were storming through Louis' body. Harry's mouth was skilful and adept while his fingers teased Louis' waist. So gentle they were when gripping his lovehandles, massaging the flesh. His lips circled Louis' pebbled nipple and he settled for suckling furiously until it turned pink. His victim was twitching and whining, wanting more but less.

"Relax, little one. Relax for me." Harry brought his lips to Louis' ear and tweaked his other nipple with a roll of his thumb. He could feel how sensitive his husband was by how quickly his nipples were erect, painfully pink and drawing whimpers whenever he raked his nail over it. "Are you with me, baby?"

Louis nodded slowly at first before more vigorously. He had closed eyes and clumped eyelashes, flushed skin down to his belly button. He was exotic and marvellous, Harry couldn't get enough of him.

"Good." Harry's voice was husky and felt like silk down the stressed arch of Louis' spine. "My good boy."

He shivered from the smooth feeling and gripped Harry's biceps. Harry watches in rapt attention when he runs the edge of his thumbnail over Louis' nipple again and the boy's entire form twitches. He loved how small and red Louis' nipples were when stimulated. 

"Whose is this, little one?" Harry brings both hands up to tease and taunt Louis, rubbing over and over the heated skin of Louis' nipples. He savoured each jerk and suppressed shiver. "Who do you belong to, little one?"

"You." Louis exhaled and his eyelids fluttered, caught staring at his enchanted husband. "All yours, Daddy."

Harry knew Louis' eyes were on him and looked up from being fascinated by the boy's chest. He winked and stretched for a kiss, releasing Louis' over exerted front. "Don't forget that, little one. This beautiful body of yours _is mine._ "

Louis stopped Harry from travelling lower down the length of his body, stilling him by his ears. He looks into those attentive, unbroken ruby eyes and strains himself for a kiss with the owner. Harry catches the back of his neck and licks into the sweet confines of Louis' mouth at once. He was Louis' as much as Louis was his.

He choked in aroused shock when Harry's hand went exploring and stopped when it was firmly wedged between his thighs. Louis adored the tension and whined in frustration, grinding down on Harry's hand. He felt a need between his legs more than the concentrated neglect of his erection. 

"Please." Louis grabbed Harry's wrist and ignored the chuckle he got when he pushed down harder on his palm. _"Harry!"_

"Hush, little one. Hush." Harry smothered Louis' desperation and kissed him. "Would you like me down there?"

"Yes please." Louis swallowed and started pushing Harry down by his shoulders. _"Daddy."_

Harry was at Louis' chest and he bit down unforgivingly around his boy's nipple, digging in deep and cruelly. "I said hush, little one. Listen when I speak once, baby."

The reprimanding was what Louis required to be quietened down. He had aching flesh around his left nipple now, a solid purple bruise blossoming in the place of golden skin. His hands dropped to Harry's shoulderblades and he shivered with the heat pooling in his belly. 

"Can I take these off?" Harry was propped up on his elbows between Louis' parted legs. He ran his hands up Louis' thighs, just enough pressure around the warm flesh to make his blood sing. "I'd love to see these legs again."

Louis nodded many times to be sure and waited with boiling anticipation for the button to be popped, zip undone and more of his body exposed. He breathed a freed sigh when Harry obeyed so that he could drag Louis' pants off him. It was a whole minute spent kissing Louis' thighs after flinging the material aside.

"You are so wonderful, little one." Harry's hands ran up and down Louis' thighs, from knee to where the hot mounds met pelvis. He slid his palms underneath and tugged, so that Louis' legs were over his shoulders and his chin could rest on Louis' dangerously lower abdomen. "These are coming off next." 

Louis demanded that they be shed now, but he was under Harry's command. He felt Harry's upper body in bare touch with his lower half and could only sustain few restraints, otherwise shuddering from such attraction. Electricity leaped from skin to skin and fed off one another.

Harry angled his head correctly to sink his teeth into Louis' rounded thighs. He felt the muscle twitch and buried them deeper, moaning while flicking his tongue over the selected goosebumps. Louis' nails scratched his scalp and he fisted the pillow at his side, jaw slackened. He was letting go and Harry hasn't seen anything more erotic.

Louis secured his thighs over Harry's shoulders and allowed his sexually tense subconscious to bask in the dampness that Harry's mouth left on him. They felt like stamps of ownership and claim, like Louis would be feeling them for days when his clothing brushed the skin or he crossed his legs.

His husband took his time in worshipping the planes of Louis' skin. The quiver of his tummy and slender dip of his hips. Harry touched all of it, marked every bit with his teeth. His tail rested stiffly on Louis' calf, gliding across the hairless skin to memorise more of what it felt like. 

"I admire you for all your qualities, little one." Harry kneels and Louis is panting for him already, head tilted back to observe each of the man's actions. "But the view from here is something I'm going to wish will haunt my dreams."

Louis laughed under his breath when he followed suit in sitting up. He was on Harry's level and bumped their noses together, inhaling sharply when Harry's finger slipped under the elastic waistband of his underwear. "Why dream when you have me at your disposal?"

Harry's smile deepened into a grin that presented his dimples and enticed Louis with the palpable lust that his eyes swam in. He was quick to curse before connecting Louis' lips to his, and using both hands to tear the seam at the front of Louis' underwear. The sound of shredding fabric was enough to make Louis' insides tighten, his body momentarily lifted so that Harry could peel the torn fabric off him.

Seeing Louis' body before has not made the intoxication any less of an abrupt seizing of Harry's mind. The boy had a body of Olympic potential, curves that struck Harry dumb and skin that drove him mad. Harry ran his hands down Louis' form from chest to thighs and couldn't capture the true beauty in his palms.

Louis was utterly bare under him. And _nervous_ because he tried covering himself. 

"No." Harry pinned his wrists down and growled challengingly when Louis fussed. "You will never hide from me."

He teased Louis by pinching his nipple and digging the heel of his palm into his lower abdomen. Louis felt the pain like heat mixed into the sweetest taste to make it a curse and gift.

"You are mine, little one." Harry looked into Louis' wide eyes and watched them brew in trepidation. He could read fear like he could smell it. "Talk to me, baby. What are you afraid of?"

"Um...-" Louis had so much confidence. He was _ready_ and now Harry was cradling him like a precious rarity. "Is-Is....- Am I... _alright_ for you?"

Harry didn't understand at first what Louis was trying to mean, but froze like he was caught by a demon when it struck him. He captured both sides of Louis' face and kissed him, kissed him to spark whatever fireworks resided in them both. Kissed him to convey his devotion. 

"You are _perfect_ , little one." Harry moved to peck both of Louis' eyelids and hear him giggle. He kept his lips pressed to the boy's forehead and felt Louis' hands on his wrists. "No other person is made for someone the way you're meant for me, little one."

For Louis, that was as close to love as it's going to get so soon. He squeezed his eyes shut to mask the stab of emotions that speared their way through the blue. Harry's lips grazed his. "It won't hurt with you."

"What, baby?" Harry was holding Louis' hands, their cheeks close by as he kept their faces inches apart. 

Louis looked straight into Harry's eyes, unafraid of being too soon in meaning what he felt for the man. Demons and flaws as a whole, Harry is who he is meant for. "I heard that my first time making love will hurt. I know that you won't let that happen."

Harry smiled upon receiving Louis' feelings through the dire need of his gaze alone, and kissed his husband's forehead. "Never, little one. You can trust me."

"I trust you."

Louis had a hard length pressing into his abdomen that Harry teased with his thumb, not minding Louis' gasps when he rubbed the pulsating head. "I'd love to take care of this, little one, but I have other intentions for now."

Harry was so open to having Louis spread out and naked on his bed that he planned to burn all Louis' clothes and lock him in this room. The boy had a pretty pink c*ck of inferior length to Harry's but was thick and heavily aroused, beading precome at the tip. Harry took it in his hand and pumped it twice to full hardness, fastening Louis' body with his other hand.

This virgin body was totally open to him. Harry felt blessed for the first time when he lowered himself again and was fitted between Louis' thighs. Louis was looking down at him with a worried bottom lip and a devilish spark in his eye, lighting the navy blue up. 

"What-" Louis' voice cracked when Harry yanked him down whilst simultaneously bending his knees, soothing the shock with reverent kneading of his inner thigh. "What are you doing?"

Harry smirked up at his curious husband who was trying to prop himself up on his elbows to look more clearly. He clicked his tongue and let his tail slither up the boy's arm to knock him back down. "On your back, little one. Stay there for me."

Louis pouted but obeyed and wiggled to get comfortable amongst all his pillows. He was looking up at the ceiling and fumbling around the sheets when he felt warmth and wetness on his most _hidden_ region. The surprising gesture had him jumping away.

"Little one?" Harry rushed to make sure that Louis wasn't hurt or worse, but all he found was wide-eyed intrigue.

"What- What was that?" Louis closed his legs at his knees and let Harry plant kisses over his face. 

Harry chuckled so fondly when he briefly framed Louis' cheek and kissed those thin, pink lips. "Did it make you uncomfortable?"

"No." Louis was blushing and he was slowly letting Harry slide his hands up his legs again, parting his knees once more. "I just....- I was surprised."

"Oh." Harry nuzzled Louis' neck because it's been so long and he needed the warmth. "I won't do it if you don't like it, little one."

Louis immediately shakes his head and he giggles at Harry's amusement as well. He puckers his lips for a kiss that comes promptly. Before long, Louis is met a festival of consecutive pecks on his lips and left to linger in the electric tingles left behind when Harry crawls lower down the length of his body.

Harry pauses to kiss the dip of Louis' sack, lick a stripe between his balls and nuzzle him there. Louis' knuckles turn white when this happens, struck with friction and sudden touches. His husband again leaves that to fester when he moves lower to hike Louis' thighs up on his shoulders, chewing his lip to suppress a groan when that merciless untouched rim comes back into view.

"Fuck." He reached out and pressed his thumb to it, feeling the throb of skin like a drug. "You are going to be my end, little one."

Harry raised his hands to Louis' hips, thumbing continually into the sweet dip of bone. He prayed for once to be able to taste something, and for it to be his divine husband. The tip of his nose brushed Louis' hole and he felt the quip of a shiver. So tight it looked, so much a virgin. Harry poked his tongue out between his lips and flicked it over the wrinkled circle.

He felt his emotional reservations and passionate demons peel the interior of his skull back, rip out his flesh off the bone. Harry loved the icy pain, the thrill of a burst of arousal. He continued to massage Louis' hips when the boy's hands connected with his and he tangled their fingers.

There was a scramble for affection and attention. Harry _forced_ Louis' back to arch when he pulled the boy's body down further, allowing the limited space to curve Louis' spine. He was beastly within and his chest erupted into animalistic noises, grunts and hunger.

Harry wet his own tongue as much as possible to make the slide against raw skin easier. Louis' bared entrance beckoned him, gloriously untouched and all for his taking. He held his lips to the puckered hole and poked around the circular muscle with the tip of his tongue, exploring and venturing. Louis was making the most sinful broken noises, breathy and mellow.

His husband unleashed the capabilities of his tongue when Harry started to feel possessed. He grabbed onto Louis tighter and delved into this private region more vigorously, licking and nipping at the sensitized skin. It frustrated him that he couldn't taste his boy and it drove Harry on to go harder, to pursue his goal.

Harry licked a stripe over Louis' hole and trailed his tongue back down teasingly. He licked his lips to dampen them and kissed the surrounding skin of Louis' rim. It was not long before enough sexual desire had pooled in his gut to fuel his actions, and he ground down on the mattress between Louis' thighs in desperate motions.

Louis' nails were digging into Harry's knuckles as he sustained his pleasure, barely containing himself. He was experiencing the colourful bursts of noises and broken sounds, all directed at Harry's ministrations.

Harry shut his eyes and licked more greedily against Louis' skin, his tongue lapping at the pursed rim so that it trembled and glistened. He moaned with his lips on it for the resonating vibrations of Louis' other worldly shudders, a hand clasping his boy's thigh to pin it down. That failed when Louis proved too enthusiastic, disobeying Harry at every turn. Harry instead encircled Louis' legs from behind at the tops, locking his own hands together over Louis' tummy.

His husband was utterly immobilised and Harry could feel his posterior pressing into his forearms. The man groaned at Louis' nails raking down his biceps where they could reach him, and buried his face impossibly further into the crevice of his behind. Harry has _waited_ for this with Louis, to have this time when they're naked and out of control together.

"Harry!" Louis' voice was choked by each round Harry's tongue did around his hole, and he was craning his neck to look away. "Oh please- Harry!"

"Hmm." Harry felt Louis like he was sharing skin with the boy, their bodies woven into one suit. He enjoyed Louis' bashfulness and his unshakeable energy, all his attitude being focused on him between his legs. "Does it feel good, little one?"

Louis screamed, totally uninhibited or concerned for outside complaints. He tossed his head back and raked a hand of his through his own sweaty hair, tugging to ground some of the pleasure with pain. His hips rolled on their own accord against Harry's shoulders, as they were locked down by the man's brutality.

"Yes!" Louis felt overwhelmed by the wet muscle exploring, torturing the state of his hole. He's never imagined that it could ever feel this way. "Yes, Daddy!"

Harry tore Louis' legs apart from encasing his head and held them down so he had better access. No matter how vehemently Louis jerked or tried to close his legs, the mission failed. He moaned from an imaginary taste and his tongue pressed harder onto the unfaltering hole, rubbing relentlessly to tease it. Louis was being ripped apart above him, two hands in his hair and jaw slackened in frozen screams. 

He could tell by Louis' thrashing that he was a bit more than nearly close to his climax, and licked his lips before pressing one finger to his husband's bitten lips.

"Suck, little one." He instructed and the cushions parted so Louis could swirl his tongue around the appendage, their eyes locking heatedly across a distance. 

Louis held Harry's wrist and moaned, grasping at the sheets. He swallowed around Harry's finger like he could take more and pressed it in deeper, the hushed pure lust in the blue of his eyes requesting that it be _more_ in his mouth. Harry ripped his finger free and sealed Louis' lips open with his open, breathing raggedly into his husband's mouth. 

"Fuck- _shit_." Harry could tell Louis wanted him already by the way his finger was swallowed by his body, taken in down to the knuckle by his fluttering hole. "Greedy boy."

Louis was trying to surpass the pain whilst also enjoy how festive it felt, the small intrusion. He felt it in body, soul and mind. Harry was arching and melting into him. "Your pants."

He wasn't stopped by Harry when Louis reached down and sneaked his hands under his pants. Fingers undid Harry's fly and shoved them low enough on his thighs so that Louis could feel his c*ck spring free. A moan fell from his lips and Louis used both hands to trace the impressive length, resting his forehead on Harry's shoulder to see him.

"That's it, baby." Harry loved Louis' hands on him, inexperienced and so enticing. He wiggled his finger inside the boy and took Louis' whimper in with a lap of his tongue. "You want my c*ck?"

"Aha." Louis nodded and shuddered violently from Harry curling his finger within _his_ confines, eyes rolling back into his skull. "In m-my mouth."

Harry bit Louis' earlobe harshly and withdrew his finger, fucking it back in to contain his own urges. He fisted the pillow at Louis' head and gyrated his hips so they met Louis' hands. Fingers mercilessly massaged the throbbing vein running along the underside, and Louis' thumb experimented with the weak spot beneath his foreskin. 

"This-" Louis drew out his whine when Harry plunged his finger back in, twisting and rubbing his walls. The friction was delectably hurtful. "Your c*ck belongs on a horse."

A smirk was branded into his neck and Harry chuckled into his ear. "It belongs inside you, little one."

"Yeah." Louis loved that statement. It was _fact_. 

He could feel the many inches that made Harry's hardened erection, allowing it to stand proudly between them. Louis licked his lips at the hot and hard skin at his mercy, grasped between his sweaty palms while he slowly found the labour to pump the entire girth. It was like being possessed and possessive, biting down on Harry's shoulder to suppress a groan at the crooked finger jabbing his insides.

"Ah." He made a breathless whimper into Harry's neck and screwed his eyelids shut to concentrate on all that was happening. In slow and lazy movements his hand travelled the length of Harry's throbbing c*ck, from the engorged tip to the hilt.

Harry turned his head sufficiently so his lips met Louis' in a sloppy kiss, leaving the corners of their mouths wet with saliva trails and Louis gripping him firmly to keep him so close. There was the unforgiving reality present that Harry would orgasm soon if Louis didn't let go.

"Little one." His tongue ran across the seam of Louis' lips. "I have to prep you."

"Okay." Louis kissed him once more and eagerly demonstrated his knowledge of what to do. He pushed Harry away just enough to clamber gracelessly onto his front before the man, getting on his hands and knees.

"Hmm. Yes, this...-" Harry watched Louis arch his back so that his lower half was presented to him, a very thin sheen of sweat covering his skin. "This is my favourite sight."

Louis giggled like he knew _exactly_ what he would be doing to Harry, and squeaked when he was positioned more efficiently around his husband. His legs were spread apart and he was panting excitedly into the pillow, waiting for more than just the cold air on his skin. Everything was hot and restricted, making the pleasure more concentrated.

"Where did you learn this, baby?" Harry's hands were on the globes of Louis' bottom, rubbing and caressing while his lips worked its way up his spine. He stopped at his nape and let the tip of his tongue wet a path back down to the start of his crevice. 

"N-Nowhere." So simple an act and Louis was already holding his heart in his fist, clutching the sheets and biting his own arm. 

Harry sat back on his calves and silently worshipped the image of Louis' cheeks spread open to reveal his damp, thoroughly inspected hole. He squeezed Louis' cheek and slapped it to watch the flesh ripple back, to hear Louis cry out. "Tomorrow I am just going to play with your arse. It's so fucking perfect."

Louis committed a sin by wiggling his behind, not timidly or in shyness. "You can play with it now."

With a tempted hum from the beast being unearthed in his chest, Harry kicked off the remaining clothes before closing in and biting down _hard_ on Louis' cheek. "I believe we have other business pertaining to your perfect derriere that is more urgent."

"Daddy!" Louis shouted into the mattress because the sting of Harry's teeth was unkind. 

"Hush." Harry spanked his other cheek and set himself up below the boy, gazing with hunger and _want_ at the flutter of his rim. "You'll get three fingers."

Louis grumbled and felt heat rush to his cheeks when Harry's tongue lay flat over his hole. He chewed his lip raw and listened to the positively demonic sounds of slurps and suckling that followed. His back was screwed tight in a a C-shape, each knob of his spinal column protruding through his golden tanned skin. 

Harry was expertly teasing the entrance of Louis' hole before acting more seriously. He ran his thumbs over the rim and cursed. "I'm going to split you open, baby. Fuck, so tiny."

He sucked down all Louis' retorts by attaching his lips in a circular stamp over the boy's hole, his tongue prodding at the tight entry. Harry cupped Louis' cheeks and held them open, fingers fanned out and digging in so desperately that Louis' skin was turning paler and numb. Bruises blossomed and Louis smothered his screams in the pillow, rolling his hips back for _more._

Harry lubricated his finger again with his own saliva and did the obscene by spitting on Louis' hole before slipping the appendage in without resistance. He groaned like the clenching heat was already wrapped around him, and pulled out to push back in roughly. Louis was thrusting back into him, the scrape of Harry's nails and the massaging of his fingers all torturing his walls.

"More." He panted, a high pitch to his voice coupled with the raspiness of a sore throat. "More, Daddy."

"Yes, little one." Harry pulled out his finger and slipped his thumb in dry from the other hand whilst preparing his second finger. 

He pressed two in and Louis' body readily accepted them. The friction was there and Louis was so new to this that he waited for no time, pushing back and engulfing Harry's fingers. The wet and firm intrusion was holding him open, pushing past his clenched walls and digging in deeper. Louis didn't realise it was happening until he had fallen forward and white come spurted across the sheets.

Shivering and shaken up, Louis was aided in riding out his first orgasm by Harry's fingers. They manipulated his neediness and ignored his sensitivity. Harry kissed his hole where his fingers were buried deep, allowing the tip of his tongue to further stretch him. Louis whined loudly and fussed about the stickiness on his front.

"It's alright, little one." Harry chuckled when Louis reached for his hand and held him, still coming down from his high. He kissed below the boy's ear and embraced his quaking form. "How was that?"

Louis' fingers slowly released Harry's where they haphazardly gripped him, the elastic band of his conscience snapping back into place. He could feel Harry's fingers inside him, stilled and allowing his muscles to burn as they opened him up.

"It better not be over." Louis breathed, all too serious until Harry leaned over and nuzzled his cheek to kiss him. They shared in a long moment of tangled tongues and swollen lips. 

Harry was let go when Louis deemed it fine. He snaked his way back down between Louis' legs that were splayed open, kissing a trail from shoulder to the base of his bum. The man's tail slithered up Louis' side to wrap around his wrists and let the boy hold onto. Such calloused and torn skin was protected by Louis' embrace, the pointed blade lying beside him. 

Two fingers deep and Harry already had a broken boy under him. He thrusted those fingers a few more times to revel in the tightness surrounding them, before pulling out and lubricating his third finger. Louis was taking it like a champ and Harry made sure to remind him how proud he was with little kisses pressed all over his lower back.

"Are you ready, little one?" Harry's three fingers were poised at Louis' puckered rim, ready to bury themselves as deep as possible. 

Louis barely got a nod out before he was screaming at the burn of being insanely stretched. He was restrained by Harry's tail circling his wrists and tugged furiously on it when Harry stopped at the hilt. Tears sprung to his eyes and his body was trying desperately to close again, but Louis was forcing himself to open up.

"You are so beautiful, little one." Harry predicted that would begin to hurt his husband around this moment and leaned over him to comfort the boy, rubbing his side and kissing his cheek. "You're all mine, baby. I'm going to take care of you. You'll feel so good with me, little one."

It took a minute for Louis to calm down and welcome Harry's kisses, to have his stray tears wiped away. He swallowed a lump in his throat and whimpered when Harry started to move his fingers. 

"Look at me." Harry suffered an awkward angle to lay beside Louis, to look into those concerned blue eyes. He moved his fingers slowly, tenderly. "How does it feel?"

Louis sniffled and blinked away the worry he always burdened himself with. He freed his legs to hike one thigh up on Harry's hip, making the man's access around him to his hole that much easier. Harry kissed him fervently while thrusting his stiff fingers, curling a bit to widen the stretch. He muffled Louis' pained noises and pushed on; gently he rocked in and out of his husband.

"Let me see those eyes, little one. They're my favourite shade of blue." Harry prompted by nudging Louis' nose. He smiled when they were revealed to him, vibrant blue that contended the skies and all the seas. "There you are, baby."

 _"Daddy."_ Louis whined whilst hanging off Harry's bottom lip, but the little thrusts of his hips back on Harry's hand assured the man that he was just in need of more attention. 

"Hmph." Harry hid his face in Louis' neck and suddenly pumped his hand faster, knocking the air out of Louis' lungs.

He thrusted deep and hard to open Louis up quickly, scissoring his fingers while they were curled. Louis scratched his arms and shoulders from how amazing it felt once he overcame the pain, eyes stuck in wide astonishment. 

"Ah!" He latched onto Harry's ear with his teeth and got rolled onto his back. Harry sat back so that he had a proper angle, watching Louis' lower half lift off the mattress to grant him that reward. "Daddy, please."

"I've got you, little one." Harry saw the fattening of Louis' c*ck again and could no longer ignore himself. "Are you sure, baby? You want this?"

 _"Yes."_ Louis spread his legs wider when Harry pulled his fingers out abruptly. He was looking up at his husband eagerly, chest heaving and mind racing. 

Harry bent over Louis such that he was shielding the boy, his body serving as protection. He kissed Louis deeply for the time it took for their hearts to slow down, and for Louis to grab the sheets. Over them came the warmth of the comforter, stopping at Harry's waist and held down by Louis' fists.

"Hey." Louis smiled at his apparently troubled husband, kissing him delicately twice and letting one hand get lost in those curls. "I care about you."

Harry's lips twitched into his signature smile just for Louis and he deepened the third kiss they shared. "I care about you too, _macushla_."

After spending all this time contemplating it, Harry decided that it would be closer to painless for Louis if he used oil. So without much further doubt, he reached over to his night stand and withdrew a case of the flavourless slimy substance. 

Upon witnessing Louis' quizzical expression, he explained. "Unfortunately, little one, lube is not one of the products we rushed to manufacture in the new world."

Louis rolled his eyes at his incredible husband who winked at him. He reached up to grasp Harry's biceps while the latter scooped out enough oil to coat himself with. "I'm doing it next time."

Harry laughed and nodded. His voice cracked when the relief of touch on his neglected c*ck overcame him. "You have my word, little one."

He knew what was coming and Louis was starting to feel terrified again. There was no doubt that he trusted Harry and his husband is who he wants to do this with, but the rumour of pain scared him. Louis distracted himself by blindly kissing Harry's unsuspecting lips and hearing his breath hitch when his thighs were kneaded. 

"Relax." Harry didn't make a move forward until Louis calmed down. He could feel the boy's racing heart and saw nothing but anxiety in his eyes. "Little one, if you aren't ready we don't have to do this. I won't be upset."

"I want to." Louis spoke urgently. He closed his eyes to the feeling of Harry's lips kissing him in odd places to soothe him. His forehead. His cheek. His neck. "I'm ready. I'm okay."

"Sure?" The last thing Harry ever wanted to do was hurt Louis. He felt Louis nod and kiss his jaw in reassurance. 

"Yes Daddy." Louis mumbled, sounding a little slurred but entirely present for Harry to kiss and praise.

Harry gave his nipple a little tweak and his forehead fell forward to rest on Louis'. His teeth granted Louis' bottom a nibble, smiling sadistically when the first hints of blood escaping the cracks in his gums appeared. Louis is his angel, the one gift from the Heavens Harry is allowed. The boy was quick to act and bend his knees on either side of his overpowering husband, and open up for the pungent taste.

Kissing Harry was like lighting the seven seas on fire and watching the conflicting elements destroy each other. There was so much _energy_ between them that Louis constantly felt highly strung, utterly victimised by Harry's hands taking control and being swathed in the muscular build of his possessive husband.

"We'll go slow." Harry promises against Louis' lips as he shifts upward to have the head of his c*ck snubbed against the boy's hole. He kisses down Louis' neck to his pulse, letting the rabbiting gush of blood tickle his lips. "I won't let it hurt, little one."

Despite his vow, Louis screamed to the skies at an uncomfortable angle that his spine twisted into when Harry first pushed in. The sensation was gutwrenching and divine, the confusion of which was most frightening. Louis felt the bulbous tip of Harry's c*ck enter him but that was all he could feel, the pain and stretch.

"Shh." Harry found Louis' hands and knotted their fingers together, holding them up beside his head. He let Louis stretch out beneath him and stare up at him, blue turning to crystal versions of the ocean. 

Louis breathed deeply and looked into Harry's eyes, unsettling as they were to others but they were his revival. He licked his lips and traced the remnants of his husband's blood off them, nodding weakly to signal his readiness.

"My beauty." Harry whispered into his ear while forcefully stilling Louis, holding him down with more strength than he'd have liked to use. He kissed Louis from his forehead to his clavicle, licking the intricate bone structure and replacing sweat with residue of his saliva. "You are doing so well, little one. Relax for me."

Harry was only halfway in before Louis thrashed about and needed a breather again. He apologised with a torn gaze and biting down on trembling lips of his that Harry thumbed over. The girth of Harry's length pushing through his insides was searing heat and agony, leaving each ligament of Louis stretched taut around him. 

Deeper and deeper Harry buried himself in Louis' tight heat to reach the hilt of his c*ck. He needed to feel all of himself sheathed in Louis, totally joined to the lovely boy. Harry picked himself up on his elbows so he was near to Louis and could kiss away any falters of whimpers, drawing his lower body up in small grinding motions. 

He framed both sides of Louis' face and thumbed away the tears that rolled free of his sparkling blues. He kissed away the saltiness of Louis' shaky lips and breathed new courage into him. The tiny distractions were enough to get Louis away from focusing too much on the pain, and could successfully fully bury himself in the boy. 

"That's it." Harry whispered with a smile. He felt a storm surge through his body from head to toe, the straining heat around him feeling like it was moulded to him. "Good boy, little one. It doesn't hurt."

Louis whined a little into Harry's plump bubblegum red lips and slowly broke himself back into feeling safe. He dug his nails into Harry's forearms and dragged them across the planes of bulging muscle to his shoulderblades. Harry groaned from how devastatingly lovely that felt on his skin, each scratch a searing reminder of who he had under him.

Harry inside him felt like the truest connection to a person he's ever had. Louis clenched to experiment with the remaining stings of his taut muscles wrapped around Harry. So deep it felt that Louis thought he was choking, Harry's throbbing girth holding him open and pinning him down.

"How does it feel?" Harry's mouth was below his ear, chest growling animalistically as he struggled to maintain himself.

Louis hissed when Harry rubbed over and cupped his bottom, lifting him off the bed to wrap his legs around him. He closed his eyes and stewed in the remarkable intimacy, the pain and affection. "Full."

"Yeah?" Harry pecked his twitching eyelids and grasped his hips. 

He was waiting for Louis to adjust, doing little to calm down from how _stimulated_ he was by the tightness around him. The head of his c*ck was dribbling precome onto Louis' insides, lubing him further for a more slick slide. Harry's pelvis was glued to Louis' and he could feel how trapped the boy's own erection was, a pulsing appendage between their fronts.

"Can I move, little one?" Harry requested in his ear, holding onto the crook of Louis' knees. 

Louis waited for the familiar touch of Harry's tail grazing the back of his hand and trailing around his thigh. "Please."

Harry felt possessed when he took Louis. He has been with people before but he wanted to impress this boy first of all, truly needed to make his first time so special. Harry didn't break their kiss once it was initiated no matter how out of breath they became, and would starve himself of everything to stay close to Louis.

Air was scarce and thick with the lust between them, the remotely mistreated love that neither whispered a word of. Louis was wrapped around Harry, legs and arms tangled with his fierce husband's limbs. He screamed from the rough penetration of his body, being torn open at the same time as caressed by Harry's calloused hands.

Their bodies were inexplicably joined; neither knew where one ended and the other began. Harry knew only that Louis had taken over his mind and infiltrated his thoughts so that each thrust of his hips were serving the please before gaining pleasure. He mouthed at Louis' clavicle and sucked flavourless bruises into his skin, watching each one pop into bright red as they littered Louis' body.

He held Louis down by his hips and pulled out, waited for a heartbeat before slamming back in. There was a forgotten promise to go slow. Louis didn't complain because Harry's intrusion was delicious and intoxicating. He was fixated on his husband looming above him, brushing back those damp curls to suck harshly on his lips. 

Harry cursed and muttered vows in Louis' ear while he moved his hips, jolts that drove his muscle. He was addicted to Louis' body in this way and groaned the longest when his orgasm was approaching rapidly. Louis held his shoulders and gasped at the obscene highlighted sound of skin slapping skin, of the squelching oil inside him being driven deeper.

Shouts filled the room along with pleasureful moans, the bed creaking and mattress' springs protesting. Louis felt Harry's tail around his neck and felt so frustrated that tugging on his own hair wasn't enough. He felt his heart lurch with each thrust aimed at uncovering the sweetest spot hidden in his body, crying out when Harry found it.

"Be loud, baby." Harry encouraged, yanking Louis down and holding his knees apart as he pivoted his hips hurriedly. Sweat dripped from his hair and skin, meshing with Louis' flushed body. " _Fuck!_ You're bloody amazing, little one."

Louis' neck was arching painfully so, his head rolling back into the pillow as his eyes delved into his skull. He forgot Harry's shoulders and reached above him for the headboard, moaning and whining as his husband pounded into him vigorously. Thrust after thrust was rubbing against his virgin walls, erasing his innocence with slick sexual desire. 

Whatever angel resided in Louis was violated and sated, an unholy connection made between demon and divine. Louis was sore and he could feel it already, aware of how it was going to hurt later. He sucked Harry's tongue into his mouth and fought none while it fucked his mouth, subduing his resistance. 

"H-Harry!" He screamed and his throat gave way, the brutal abuse targeting his prostate leaving Louis a quivering mess. 

"Won't stop, baby." Harry was husky and growling in his ear, stilling his hips for the perfect angle before rapidly slamming into him. He swallowed Louis' groans and went harder, digging in deeper each time and thrusting fully at each opportunity. "Know it feels good."

"Please." Louis rasped, fingers and toes curled as the familiar sensation of an aggressive orgasm found its way into his twisted belly. "I-I'm gonna-"

"I know." Harry's fingers sought out Louis' nipples and he twisted them, drew them out to elongate the nubs and thumbed over their hard state. "Come, little one. I'm right here."

Louis didn't take long to surrender. His body was subjected to half a dozen more wild thrusts that numbed his raw insides and came hard across his belly just after. He was a mess emotionally when Harry started kissing his faint tear streaks and rubbing the kinks in his back from being stretched so severely. 

Harry followed close after because he has held back for far too long with a body like Louis' at his disposal. He mumbled incoherent praises about Louis' delicate form under his mercy before bucking his hips and stilling once he's pressed right up against the boy's pelvis. His orgasm crashes through him and rips out of his body. 

He rocks Louis' body as earnestly as he can to ride out his climax, listening to his husband's broken breathing into his ear. All the noises die down between them and the suspended heated air hanging over their heads lowered itself to something tangibly subtle. Harry's monstrous form stops shaking and the bed silences itself, sinking into the deathly post coital glow of the room.

Panting and coming down from his highest pique, Harry's arms begin to shiver whilst lowering him to being safely snuggled between Louis' thighs. Still tucked in to the hilt inside his beautiful little husband, Harry tries not to shift around too much. His release inside Louis was evidently smothering the already tight confines but Harry hasn't felt more united with another person in his entire life. 

Louis sighed contentedly and mindlessly scratched his chest, looking well sated and grinning dreamily up at Harry. "Hi."

Harry was the one to chuckle and nip at Louis' cheek then his jaw, his split lips. "How are you feeling, little one?"

"Amazing." Louis purred and hugged Harry around his neck, legs falling wide open beneath the covers. His face was an inch away from Harry's and their smiles were exact replicas of fondness, excitement and teenage heartache. "How are _you_ feeling?"

"Extraordinary." Harry smirked against Louis' lips during their lazy kiss of clashing teeth and Louis teasing Harry. "I don't think I will ever leave from here."

Giggles ensued from his delightful husband and Harry lowered his tail to encircle Louis' waist. He watched Louis flex his fingers and his chronically cold toes press against his calves. Louis would yawn and make no effort to hide it because Harry still kissed him anyway right after.

"You have a territory to protect." Louis reminded him, and smiled goofily with bright eyes. The glow came from within him and bathed them both in warmth. "And I can handle anything more....down there."

"I don't believe that." Harry found a pillow and stuffed it under Louis' back to make him more comfortable. He didn't dare waste a chance to _graze_ Louis' body where they were joined so explicitly. "This part of you is my new obsession."

A pout is what Louis faced him with. "You're only obsessed with my bum, Daddy?"

"Not _only_ , little one." Harry picked Louis' head off the mattress and kissed him after it was too long a separation. "A great deal, yes. Your bum is quite _magnificent_."

Louis blushed bright red and tried to hide his face behind his hands, failing when Harry held those dainty wrists apart despite the giggling boy masked by them. "Daddy, you're still....um-"

"Are you sensitive, baby?" Harry asks him lowly, capturing Louis' earlobe between his teeth and tugging. 

"A little." Louis blushed even redder and let Harry's fingers slip between his own. The size difference was wonderfully elaborate, such that Louis curled his fists and they were easily encompassed by Harry's whole hands. 

"Want me to pull out?" Harry further taunted him, a smirk teasing his own lips. 

Louis bit his lip and made a questionable sound in a high pitch. He slowly found the bravery to shake his head and let Harry fall down closer to him, their mouths instantly wound up as one.

**_[A/N: THOUGHTS MAYBE????? - S xx]_ **


	12. Chapter Twelve.

**_[A/N: I am most honoured to have witnessed so many of you that don't normally comment actually do so in the previous chapter. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for taking time out of your lives to read my work; it still feels so surreal. - S xx]_ **

Louis and Harry made love in their bed for long enough that they got to see the sun arrive in the morning. Through sealed curtains the sun's rays penetrated, heating up the areas where it was bared. Louis could hear the birds singing the same tune they do every chilly morning and made Harry wake up to open the windows.

"Harry." He nudged his husband where the latter lay close to slumber beside him, face buried in the pillow and arm wound tightly around Louis. "Daddy, open the window."

There was instant protesting in the form of a sleepy and harmless Harry grumbling to him. "Why do you want it open, little one?"

Louis yawned and did his very best not to shift his lower half when he moved because that region of his was near broken. Tantalising sore as it was, he was also experiencing the religious leak of Harry's seed dripping onto his inner thigh. 

"Listen to 'em." Louis spoke about the birds into Harry's ear, while his fingers combed through the man's curls. "They sound so pretty."

"Hmph." Harry grunted and slowly blinked himself awake before prying his body out from under the warm sheets. "The things I do for you, baby, are not to be under-appreciated."

Louis giggles at him from his safe spot in the center of the mattress, hiding his whole form along with half his face in the covers. Legs curled up and head full of unruly hair, he watches Harry grumpily peel back the window as well as open the balcony curtains but leave the French doors closed. Bright blue eyes greeted Harry's displeased rubies when he climbed back into bed.

"Baby appreciates it." Louis whispers when he docks the courage to press himself against Harry's side, becoming easily roped in between two burly arms. 

Harry kisses the top of his head and pulls Louis onto his chest so that he may lie solely on his body. The smaller of the two is more than pleased to oblige, as he seeks solace under the juncture of Harry's neck and the curl of a tail around his thigh. Harry watches Louis try to fall asleep, his soft sniffles and small flinches at the rogue sensitivity of his body where he's been used so thoroughly.

"How is this part of you coping, little one?" He let's the torn and overheated skin closest to the blade on his tail extend toward the dip between Louis' cheeks, rubbing sinfully against his hole.

Louis does little to resist because he loves the attention Harry gives him, and stretches his limbs out with a broken whine when the friction of a calloused tail on his bruised and gaping entrance becomes intoxicating. "It's coping just fine, Daddy."

"Good." Harry's signature smirk is complemented by two shallow dimples and a devilish twinkle in the crimson of his eyes. He doesn't cease the act of caressing Louis' rim and uses his hands to grasp the boy's full hips. "You need to get some sleep now, little one."

"I will." Louis wiggles and tries to escape the arousing tension between his sticky thighs. "Can't sleep like this."

By now, Harry's got a decent portion of his tail covered in the come that is slipping out of Louis at an increasing rate. He stops his torture to wind the muscular limb around Louis' hips after his arms. There's a moment when Louis completely trusts Harry to protect him when his body goes limp and he's breathing evenly into his husband's neck. Harry swears he can hear his own heart beating externally in that moment, as it lay bleeding in Louis' fist.

Harry couldn't fall asleep until he was all but certain that Louis had. He had to await the subtle signs like the twitching fingertips that tickle his neck and the faintest snores that sounded so smooth and chilling. In that time that he was alone, barren with his lonesome thoughts Harry took the opportunity to admire Louis.

He has done this more times than he can remember since meeting the rambunctious boy, full of life and wonder like nothing else could ever hope to be. Louis brought light into his life when Harry didn't know he needed it, and offered a kind of comfort that was scarce to anyone who lived in his position. Harry leans down to kiss Louis' sleeping lips and he knows without a doubt that he will surrender all utilities and power to keep this boy.

It comes to when Louis is almost entirely lost to sleep, when Harry can amuse himself with the boy's soft whispered speech. Talking in his sleep was rare for Louis, as Harry discovered, and only occurred when there was a lot going on in his pretty little head.

"Little one." He halted the muted fussing and whimpers, coupled with choppy sentences. 

"Hmph." Harry grinned into Louis' hair when he got the response. He loved talking to Louis this way because it felt like a sheer peek into the boy's undisturbed soul. 

He caressed Louis' hip with his knuckles and traced the bruises his own hands left behind on his bum. "How are you, little one?"

Louis' mouth was against Harry's shoulder where he had fallen and it led to many muffled words, a string of them that the man couldn't comprehend. 

"I can't hear you, baby." He knows that Louis is most certainly rambling about something idiotic but he couldn't be more endeared. 

The time for Louis' talking session expired just after he pushed out a repetition, totally ignorant of the stroke Harry suffers upon hearing it. Akin to molten rock making its way through his veins, ripping the tissue that held it together and bleeding out from within. Harry did little mercy unto himself by holding Louis tightly to breathe in his scent and kiss up his neck, blocking out the sleepy voice that haunted him.

It was terrifying to a man that shouldn't be afraid of anything. Harry couldn't sleep now, won't be able to with anything less than knocking himself out. With a last kiss to Louis' temple, he gets out from under the covers whilst trying to make as little noise as possible. His heart is left behind, bled out and gushing all these foreign emotions, when he pulls on a pair of pants and walks out of the room.

  
* * * * *  


Louis wakes up to a crash.

He's abruptly slapped out of the most peaceful sleep he's ever had and jolts upright in bed, panting with a rapidly beating heart that abuses the confines of his ribcage. Clutching the sheets to his chest in fright, Louis can see that the room is not only swathed in bright midday light but is in the process of being completely destroyed.

Their closet is a mess if the clothes strewn across the entrance is anything to go by. The balcony doors are wide open, letting in wafts of frigid air that further misconstrued the clothing on the floor. Letting scarves and his lighter shirts blow out through it. The desk below a frozen window is toppled over, a giant crack down the middle with the accompanying chair being hurled at the wall. There's a dent in the painted wall, broken wheels and paint peels all over the floor.

"Harry!" He shouted at his husband that's gone stark raving mad, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed despite the aches and soreness of his lower body. 

Louis sees Harry hunched over by the balcony doors, one hand gripping the brass doorknob with shreds of a curtain lining floating out through the exit. He hears Harry's heavy breathing and sees the rigid state of his tail, exhaustion clearing up to make a path for his sympathy. His poor, lovely husband.

What was he so torn up about? Louis won't let him be alone in the matter, regardless of how terrible. He will mat himself in the horror so Harry isn't by himself.

"H-Harry?" He feels oddly emotional when he touches the man's sizzling arm, voice shaky like his fear. Louis closes his eyes and leans into Harry's side, taking deep breaths to tame Harry's monster. "What's the matter?"

He hadn't seen it up until now when Harry raises the glass to his lips, but he's got a half empty cup of amber alcohol. The stench hovers about him above and beyond that, the man's deathly glare directed at the hole he created in the wall. 

"Hey." Louis turns himself around at the same time that he drops the covers from around his shoulders. He peers up at his distraught husband in earnest. "Love, talk to me."

It took longer than Louis would have liked, but he smiled in apparent appreciation when Harry's gaze finally dropped to his. He swallowed nervously, a shyness about the blush colouring his cheeks, when the ghastly red gave him a once over. The demented colour no longer frightened him, nor the ashen skin about them, just cloaked him in something _familiar_.

Harry let's Louis in under his arm and downs the rest of his foul smelling drink to toss the glass somewhere. It doesn't break into shards like Louis thought, but the furious thud against the wall was still worthy of the shivers it drove down his spine.

"What are you so upset about?" Louis asks in a calm, monotonous voice that depicted his frailty without error. His palm rested over Harry's pectoral where he could feel the seamless _thump thump thump_ of Harry's harshly beating heart.

Without a moment's notice, his husband has him pressed stunningly close to his chest in an embrace. Harry buries his face in Louis' neck and breathes out in shallow puffs. His hands are on the boy's lower back and his tail finds the means to entice the curve of his hips, curling just perfectly so they're fitted together. 

"I didn't want to wake you." Harry bent to pick the sheet that Louis came with back up, draping it over the boy's shoulders. He had a sickly sinister smirk set into the arch of his lips when his hand sneaked its way under the comforter to clasp Louis' thigh, hike both of them up on his waist. "Unfortunately, if I was allowed to do this anywhere else I might frighten my staff."

Louis' confusion only worsened with time and took to securing his legs around Harry for temporary grounding. He cupped Harry's stubbly jaw and tracked his thumb over those signature plump lips, black as they were with so many secrets to tell.

"I still don't think I know what _this_ is." Louis looks over his shoulder at the ground that's many feet below him, and back at the broken table and torn drapes. 

Harry chuckles darkly and presses a numb kiss to Louis' cheek when the boy is turned away. "Let's go back to bed, little one."

"Okay." Louis muffles a yawn behind his fist and his eyelids droop from their weight. "Only if you tell me what's wrong, Daddy."

"I am going to." Harry admits with a deafening sigh, sitting down on the only untouched thing in the room and slides into the center of the mattress. He pulls the remaining sheets up to cover his legs along with Louis' petite form. "Little one, did you know that you talk in your sleep?"

"Yeah." Louis' blush harvests a giggle through which the sound is music and tragically drugging. He gets hauled up onto Harry's lap more securely when the latter sits against the headboard, his back pressed partially to the gruelling cold wall. "Everyone used to tell me I'd say the weirdest things."

Harry takes Louis' arms and hooks them over his shoulders, smiling wryly when Louis pecks his lips and he doesn't act quickly enough to respond. "I wouldn't say anything I've heard was _weird_ in its context."

"Thanks, Daddy." Louis knows when he's merely grasping at straws to lighten the mood of their conversation, and that the heaviness of Harry's burdened shoulders won't lift until he's spoken what he needs to. "Tell me what's bothering-"

"You told me you loved me in your sleep." Harry spits it out and each word feels like acid, burning holes through each syllable in his tongue. He looks away when he says it, staring daggers into the wall and cursing himself for having no bravery. Louis is idle in his lap, stunned to immobility. "And I can't seem to...get the hope that you'll say it again out of my head."

Louis' lips part when breathing becomes a laborious task and he looks at Harry with a fierce mix of emotions. He draws in a sharp intake of air that scorches his throat, looking into those poorly masked sad red eyes. Fingers of his find the base of Harry's neck and he leans in to kiss Harry, deep and harshly with bitten lips and a soft whine.

He had no idea how truthful and uncensored he could be in his sleep, but it's out there and cannot be taken back. Louis feels Harry grip his sides and pants unevenly into their clashed mouths, tasting the blood and wariness of Harry's breaths.

"Is that...-" Louis gets up on his knees and Harry can't stand them being apart, attaching his lips to the boy's soft tummy in little kisses and nips. "Is that what made you angry?"

"No." Harry's arms bracketed Louis' waist such that he couldn't move more than what his husband allowed. He buried his face in the pudge of Louis' tummy that's littered with numerous kisses. "Yes."

Louis feels momentarily upset to hear this, and frowns a bit. "Why did it make you angry?"

Harry sighs and rubs the palm of his left hand over Louis' hip when the boy sits back down, his other hand resting alongside Louis'. It's a matter of gruesome conflict in his mind where half is for and the other is too much against. He wasn't one to be loved or want love, when the emotion itself was so deep and _earnest._

Looking into Louis' deep sea blues and how hurt they are after hearing that a confession went unaccepted, Harry feels like the ugliest beast of a man. When he tries to hold Louis' hand, all he gets in return is a lifeless curl of fingers around his wrist. "Little one, I don't want to hurt you."

Louis looks at him in disbelief before averting his gaze to his lap. He feels awful down to each bone and the arc of it, feeling something similar to devastation well up in his belly. Harry didn't love him and that was supposed to be _okay_ because Louis knows he falls too fast sometimes, and much too hard to be healthy. 

It most affected the catch in his throat when he felt disgusting on the inside and couldn't do much to stop the tears from flowing. "Excuse me."

"Hey. No, little one." Harry didn't let him move away like Louis wanted, and held him close because he was so dear. "Don't be shy."

Louis cried uncharacteristically into Harry's neck and let himself feel miserable, his body used. He let the man who won't love him back hold him through his pain no matter how much it felt like talons raking through his gut, tickling his innards at the same time as ripping them apart. Harry had the power to completely destroy him, a feat that no other man ever did.

"I-I-I'm sorry." Louis hiccuped through a weak sob and wiped furiously at his burning eyes. He sees his tears roll onto Harry's shoulders, skating over the half-moon indents his nails created on the hardened skin. "Didn't w-want to make you _angry_."

"Hush." Harry shakes his head and hides it in Louis' neck, frustratingly swearing all the Gods that gave him - an unworthy man - an angel like his Louis. "Baby, don't be upset. This wasn't your fault. I care so much about you, absolutely everything about me is dedicated to you."

Louis is still crying in choked little huffs of air that marks up Harry's skin where he cuddles his husband. He tugs on Harry's hair when his fingers entangle themselves in his damp locks, hiding his visage no matter how insistent Harry is in seeking him out.

"Little one." Harry turns his head to try kissing Louis' lips, but the younger male shakes his head to angle himself further away. "Little one, please."

Still breaking apart from Harry, Louis wipes the wetness from under his eyes and nose. He stops Harry from doing it for him and releases new waves of tears when the man's chest erupts into possessive growling to keep him still. Using little balance on his knees, Louis can't stop the hurt that lay laden in each salty, burning tear that scraped the top layer of his skin. 

"I'm sorry." Louis repeats his apology, playing with his fingers and watching them get attacked with the tears that fell freely off his chin. "I don't...I don't want to rush you."

"Come here, little one." Harry embraces his beautiful husband and bends his knees to provide support to the trembling boy. With sealed eyelids and inescapable self-loathing, Harry kisses Louis' neck. There's so much in the world that this boy deserves. "One day soon, baby. Please be patient with me."

"O-Okay." Louis feels hurt much less now that he's been mildly reassured by Harry's hands on his back. He can't expect Harry to be on the same level that he is on, but the fact that they just committed the deed that brings two people together better than anything else makes the reality more bitter. "D-Do you still um-....-"

"Yes, little one?" Harry wants Louis to stay with him, to be his baby always and never retire or give up on them.

Louis blocks his face and wraps his arms securely around Harry's neck. When he speaks, he does it in such a low voice that Harry wouldn't have heard him if he didn't feel so attuned to the boy. His sweetheart shouldn't be so heartbroken because of him. 

"Do you still care about me, Daddy?" Louis asks, fingers flexing as they fan out on Harry's biceps. "I mean- if you um.....-"

He didn't know at all what to say. Does Harry even want to care about him after this pathetic tantrum of his? They're still married. 

_"Of course I do, little one."_ Harry sucks his lip into his mouth and chews it raw until it bleeds. He hugs his beautiful husband tightly with all the vigour he has for him, the dedication and admiration. "I care about you more than you could ever imagine, baby. I'd kill for you."

  
* * * * *  


Harry has spent two days hating his own arrogance so severely that every aspect of his life has been affected. He couldn't come past the fact that Louis is such an angel; capable of admitting his _love_ and not leaving Harry when it wasn't reciprocated. The monster within the man's chest sat in an infernal ball awaiting the moment to tear out of him as punishment for the hurt he's caused.

Everything about Harry is in love with Louis but something that was purely _him_ held his affection back. The demons in his head dreamed of Louis when he was supposed to be tending to broken treaties with Alfie, and the caged beast that served as guard to his heart stirred only at the mention of his sweet husband.

Two entire days have flown by and Harry cannot find it in him to look into Louis' mournful blues anymore. He wants to crumble at his feet and profess any love but Harry also didn't _feel it_ and he'd rather lodge a stake in his chest than lie to Louis.

Today is not a weekday and Harry has spent the entire morning in his office after waking up before Louis did. He signed documents and met with the men who wanted to pull out of their agreement with him. Families retreated from his lands and a fair warning was given that he will not allow them back should they need aid.

For forty eight hours he has been the epitome of horrid to everyone because Louis didn't cuddle with him or kiss him on his lips. It isn't the boy's fault but Harry won't confess to himself that he is the actual monster. He managed to pass Louis in the hall yesterday when he was on his way to the stables to fetch his mare for a ride, and the awkward ambiance of their conversation still haunted him.

Here, seated in his throne alone in his study at a time of day when Louis was always present, Harry remembered how he flinched when Louis smiled. When he greeted the boy in passing, Louis grinned so warmly like he expected Harry to do more than what he actually did, which was hide from reality and not even hug him. They were married and yet they were strangers all over again.

Harry shoves his chair back so he can stand and kicks it tauntingly to inflict pain on anything but himself. Fists curled and lips dripping blood all over his documents, Harry paced around his office when his chest grew tight.

"Master." Alfie knocks on the door timidly before walking in. His hands shook the way they haven't for over three weeks - since the arrival of Louis.

"What?!" He barked, wiping the blood off his mouth so it was incidentally smeared across his cheek. No physical pain was equivalent to what he deserved to feel. 

Alfie pushed the door open and cleared his throat, but nonetheless his fright shook the embers of his voice. "M-Master, Louis is....he's hurt."

The mention of his precious husband had Harry loping out of the room, taking large strides and shouldering past Alfie. There was no need to ask what kind of hurt because even a paper-cut is severe to him, and Harry must be there with him. He's told to go to the gardens with a stubbornly heavy heart that plummets his mind into all the gory possibilities.

He doesn't care about the tension between them in their marriage, just that Louis might be hurt and that...that _scares_ him. Harry runs through the hallways and nearly knocks over several people on the way there. The gardens can't come soon enough, and he bursts through the glass doors that swing back to slam into the walls.

"Louis!" He shouts at the empty meadow, eyes wide in concern and horror because he can't _see his husband_. "Louis, baby!"

"Over here!" A voice replies to him, softened by the bushes through which it has to travel.

Harry abandons the fact that he doesn't have protection on his chest or feet when he storms through the thorny clumps of stunted trees to his left. All that haunts him is the need to get to Louis and protect him from whatever is harming him, or what has. Had it been caused by something living, Harry grits his teeth and curses them because they deserve to suffer before dying.

"Harry!" Louis' voice is closer but still too far away, and laced with the pungent traces of anguish. 

The dead leaves crunch under Harry's bare feet and the twigs scrape his ankles, leaving a disturbing collection of bleeding wounds behind. Bruises form on his legs as they collide with the sharp edges of rocks and the prickly tips of rose bushes. He's never come to this part beyond the meadow before, because there was never a need.

He breaks through the bushes and ignores the razor sharp branches that leave bright red streaks across his arms. The darker than usual blood races to his elbow where it drips down onto the forest floor, staining leaves with the faces of flowers.

Harry comes to a sudden stop with dampened fists and a fury in his feelings when there is no sign of his husband being hurt. There is however, a blanket spread out over the threat of prickly dead leaves and a boy perched on it with crossed legs. He's grinning up at Harry whilst being surrounded with a vast selection of food. Instead of feeling the rage he should be, due to being drawn out of the sanctity of his study for _a lie_ , Harry feels himself smirking because of Louis' so precious. 

Seated there before him is Harry's gracious husband, in all white clothing including a gorgeous little white flower tucked into the hair above his ear. He has on Harry's favourite pair of denim shorts that stop halfway down to his knees, and an odd T-shirt that was cut in a slanted fashion across his front.

All his fear and irritation from earlier disipitates in light of involuntarily moving closer to Louis. "What's all this, little one?"

Louis doesn't answer and shifts over a bit to pat the space beside him. "Come sit, Daddy."

Harry moves gingerly over to the boy's picnic set-up and sits right where he's instructed to. He will have to admit that the spot Louis chose is far from aesthetically pleasing, with nothing but dried trees and dead shrubbery to look at. Beyond the forefront of gloomy plants and a bit towards the skies lay the mansion in all its pale glory.

"I was told that you were hurt." Harry folds his legs and begins inspecting Louis for injuries. 

Being this close to him ignites a spark that hasn't been nourished since their night in bed together, and Louis let's him do as Harry pleases because physical attention was seldom granted these past few days. He tries to hide all that was grim and sad about himself whilst watching his overbearing husband hold onto his hand and check each part of him. It brings a smile to his face that holds up even brighter when Harry didn't realise how close they'd become, and their faces are so near.

"Hi." Louis turns toward him fully and narrowly escapes knocking over a jar of jam. He's smiling so broadly that Harry feels life being breathed into him.

"I was working, little one." Despite him saying this, Harry continues to hold Louis' hand and properly position the flower in his hair. "I have to go back."

"No you don't." Louis playfully glared at Harry, a truly remarkable expression to battle Snow's puppy anger sometimes. "Alfie says so."

"Then there's another reason I must return." Harry is thumbing back and forth over Louis' wedding band, a smirk donned by his facial features. "I have a staff member to punish."

"Don't you dare." Louis tapped Harry's nose and kissed him right when the skin started to turn a little rosy. "You and I are going to have a problem if you hurt Alfie. He did me a favour."

Louis rotated only his upper body to reach for something and Harry disabled his full ability by bringing the boy's hand up to his lips for multiple kisses on each knuckle. Dismay and heartache may be the order of the day, but Harry couldn't ever resist Louis' plump little body.

"No more excuses either." Louis says sternly, displaying a small red bag. "I know you hate shoes so I brought a first aid kit for your cuts and some socks. Rose told me that you love salmon so I asked her to make something with it. It tastes yucky but you might like it."

"My little Louis." Harry is laughing so softly yet just as bold as a thunderous echo, and kisses the boy's forehead. He can feel the heat soaring beneath the skin that his lips brush against, and pulls away to kiss their wedding ring on Louis' finger. "I love that you've done this all for me but I must go."

Louis' face falls and his entire expression demeans itself. "Oh."

Harry had to get up and walk away before he got caught in the web of enticing affection that came with Louis. He didn't want to stay and end up saying something under pressure, or worse disappointing Louis because he doesn't say it at all. There's a permanent weight that haunts him about his heart, mind and shoulders. 

"Harry?" He gets called back just before the man can wade through the bushes again, and upon turning around can see that Louis has stood up too. 

"Little one?"

An arm crosses over Louis' middle to grasp the other so it appears as if he's hugging himself. He has no shoes on either and tops one foot with the other, wincing at the violent outburst of an owl taking off from a tree. "Do you know what this is, Harry?"

The question puzzles his companion, enough so that Harry stops angling himself to leave and turns around completely. He looks at Louis curiously with a developing migraine from longing; Louis is so close to him yet so far out of his reach.

"What do you mean, baby?" Harry's frown is not easily mistaken. He's focusing on the dip in Louis' clavicle and the blush of his cheeks, the bitten state of his bottom lip and the flood of _hurt_ that's all over those features.

"This." Louis gestures to the picnic all around him and sniffles, trying to keep his tears back. His nose is a vibrant red from battling the cold and part of his tummy that's exposed to the sub-zero temperature. Harry can see each inhale and exhale being highlighted by the dip of his belly. 

Harry can't stop the impending praise from sliding off his tongue, too stunned by the timeless looks of his husband. "You're so beautiful, little one."

"It's my- _huh?_ Oh Harry." Louis blushes bright and deep pink, quickly glancing at his crossed ankles to hide his flattered giggle. "That's not what I'm trying to say."

"Go on then." Harry swallows in spite of his muddled thoughts that are all zeroing in on each other to confuse him. He wasn't ready for Louis' reality check but he could feel it coming, the twitch in his fingers and icy column to replace his spine. There was no warmth left. 

Louis cannot escape the soon to be realised truth of what comes with looking down at his abandoned picnic. It was a symbol of their misconstrued relationship that's down in the dumps right after the most _intimate_ deed was treasured between them. 

He wasn't exceptional at displaying how he felt, but he knew that this called for something to be said. What could ever be acceptable about being bared to a man in bed, then totally ignored by said man? Louis felt worthless that way and his subconscious has been nudging him toward confronting Harry about this.

"This is-" Louis chews his upper lip aggressively. 

He shakes his head and holds his hand out preventatively when Harry steps forward in light of a tear sliding down his cheek. Louis has to say this no matter how heated Harry's stare on him is.

"I had to _lie_ to get my husband to spend time with me. I woke up this morning and spent an hour thinking about whether or not I'll see you at all today. We made love two days ago for the first time, Harry." He looks up with trembling lips and no way to secure them. Louis backs up even further when Harry looks so _desperate_ and his legs carry him forward. "I-I gave you _my virginity_ and you haven't sp-oken to me in _two days_. Do you know h-how that makes me f-feel?"

There is no infinite routes of escape for a crying Louis when Harry makes his way over to him from around the picnic blanket. Cold food goes ignored and Louis bats Harry's evasive arms away but they manage to grab hold of him anyway. He hiccups and muffles his sob, burning hot tears running down his cheeks in bright red streaks.

Harry is holding him and Louis is scared that he's doing so out of husbandly duty but nothing else. He nonetheless grips the man's biceps and cries without reservations into his neck, letting tears roll down his pectorals and burn like acid. Louis is shivering when he aligns his body with Harry's, no longer the bold little lad that Harry pursued.

"Oh little one." Harry picks Louis up by his thighs and gently rocks him, aware of the calming effect it had on the boy. He dares to kiss Louis' forehead and wipe his tears away. They burn his skin no matter the trials those hands have faced, and he backs up a bit so his back collides with the trunk of a tree. "My little one, my _sweet_ Louis. I'm so sorry. I've been horrid to you and believe me, baby, I tried to clear my head before coming back but everytime I looked at you I felt like such a failure as a husband."

Louis started to shake his head again whilst hugging Harry around his neck, tight and secure. He holds his breath to control his hiccups, nails scratching Harry's skin so that bruised worts are left in its wake. "Y-You're not a f-failure, love."

"Regardless." Harry used the tree trunk as a support beam while he lowered himself back onto the blanket whilst still holding onto Louis. "I can't forgive myself for the way I behaved. When I can one day explain why I did what I did, I promise I will. Alright, baby?"

"Okay." Louis agrees because he _loves_ Harry and somehow that masked all other negative feelings toward the man. He could overlook anything if it meant getting to stay with Harry and somehow one day have his love in return. "Are you still going to leave, Daddy?"

"No, little one. Not at all." Harry persistently kissed a path down Louis' neck to his shoulder and shifted the collar of his shirt to expand onto his bicep. His tail trapped Louis' hips and Harry felt just one kiss pressed to his temple. It was enough. "I'm sorry, baby. You are.... _everything_ to me."

Louis feels toasty and comforted from the inside out. He smiles when Harry tilts his head back instead of sniffling, and welcomes the tender kiss as it lands on his lips. Hands on his hips and a chest beneath his fingers, Louis feels safer with this one man than he could with a whole army.

  
* * * * *  


The most recent two days have been a significant improvement and both partners agree. Harry never once left their bed in the morning before Louis woke up, and even broke his reputation of curt by striding into the kitchen for breakfast with Louis perched on his back. Rose was pleasantly surprised and greeted both lovers in her usual polite manner.

"Where are you going?" Louis held his arms out and stretched as far as he could to recapture Harry in them. "Daddy, come back."

Jack had just walked in, whistling and bearing the latest puzzle as acquired by the town tavern. He heard the term being spoken and walked right back out again, soon followed by his wife who made the excuse of needing to see if Jack was hungry. It wasn't as apparent to Harry and Louis, but everyone in the house was totally thrilled with the change in their dynamic.

Harry learned to cook a decent fry-up for breakfast under Louis' excellent coaching methods. He burned himself twice - the second time being oil that splattered that which Louis needed saving from. Louis rewarded him for his efforts in a _fantastic_ way. 

"Oh." He sidled up next to Harry and examined the wound before pressing a cold cloth down onto it. That was followed by a kiss to the man's cheek. "My poor Harry."

His husband was amused enough to kiss Louis' temple and hold down the cloth over his arm. He only did it for Louis' benefit because the scalding sensation has died down for him already, but if he dared to lift the wet rag his husband might blow his top off.

"Does it hurt?" Louis was looking up at him with piercing blue eyes, a small pout on his thin beckoning lips. He giggles when Harry pecks those lips and doesn't let up even amidst his laughter. 

"I'm fine, little one." Harry's eyes grew wide and all but fell back against the counter when Louis was suddenly on his knees before him. "What are you-"

"Shhh." Louis silences his husband's absurd response to him unzipping the fly of his jeans. 

"Louis-"

"Hush." Louis bats Harry's hands away from futilely attempting to get him back upright, tracing the inflation of his c*ck through his boxers. He leans forward to press an abundance of kisses over the bulge and cup its shape in his palm, rubbing with slight pressure. 

An impulse had him looking up, caught be Harry's darkening gaze. Lust was key in that crimson red and Louis made a show of licking lips whilst prying Harry's boxers down his legs. 

"Nah uh." Louis held Harry's wrists away from area of work when the man's c*ck sprung free. "Baby's doing this."

Harry muttered a curse when Louis warned him none, and took the length in his hand to pump until fully erect. He caught counter against his back with tightening fists, intoxicated by the wet heat that ensued from Louis taking the tip of his c*ck into his mouth. Louis swallowed around the swollen tip and blushed because of how aroused he managed to make his husband in such a short minute.

His tongue teased the slit, holding the base in his hand whilst kitten licking the droplets of precome. Bitter and sweet at the same time was that spectacular taste. Louis hummed when he managed to take a bit more and didn't fear the girth or length, although he knew severe injury could be caused by trying too hard.

The weight in his mouth, stretching him open more than he'd normally try to accommodate, was devious and satisfying. Louis held Harry's hips and swallowed around him, tasting the heated skin and throbbing nerves. His tongue swirled relentlessly in seamless twirls around the girth, feeling it fatten up painfully in his mouth.

Louis went further down until the head of Harry's c*ck reached the back of his mouth, stretching his throat until he gagged. He was not experienced by so beautifully excited that Harry did little to restrain him. A hand caught the back of Louis' head and guided him down until he's choking on Harry's monster c*ck. 

"Baby, fuck." He tossed his head back and let Louis bob sinfully along his shaft, tongue working at the most sensitive spot beneath the tip. 

Louis' teeth peeled back his foreskin using his teeth most delicately, and moaned again to send vibrations all through Harry's body. He let Harry's hips thrust into his mouth and had a chin that's covered in spit and Harry's evidence of arousal. The taste was too alluring and Louis let his mind wander to the many opportunities that he's going to grab for escapades like this, especially when he felt so empowered and greedy for it.

Harry was going to pull away and kiss Louis until he was stunned silent but his orgasm arrived faster than expected. Louis forced himself to take at least half of Harry's whole length and pause to torture himself by swallowing around it. He hollowed his cheeks to form the perfect suction and dragged his teeth over the tough skin when pulling off. Twice more he repeated it, before he heard Harry shout and a taste exploded in his mouth.

He let the release splatter across his tongue and moans at the sweet taste. Harry's eyes meet his when he prepares to stand, and witnesses how dark his gaze has become. Lust has hooded his prowess and Harry growls possessively when Louis licks the droplet of white come off his lip, making an indecent show of swallowing all of it.

"Little one." Harry catches and ropes Louis in by his hips in a sudden jerking motion. He smirks down at his blushing husband, tilting his head back by his chin nibbles on the boy's wet lip. "A little minx is what you are."

Louis wiggles in a horribly seductive manner and forces Harry to bend down so they can kiss. It's messy and results in Harry tasting himself on Louis' tongue, groaning at the exotic experience. "I'm your little minx."

"Hmm. That you are." Harry hurries to tuck himself back into his pants for the day and follows loyally after Louis. His not so innocent husband bursts into giggles when he's imprisoned by two arms and a tail. "All five feet of you."

"Hey!" Louis protests and struggles to pour lots of sugar into his coffee with Harry's obstructive body. "I'm five feet nine inches, mister."

Harry hears Louis squawk and pull on his curls when he's hoisted a bit onto the wooden hoist just off the ground as is attached to the counter's legs. He holds Louis up by his waist and winks at his husband that is directing a royal pout his way. "Now you are."

"So mean." Louis squirms and silently demands to be put down. He gets a ceremony of kisses on his neck while preparing what remains of their cold breakfast, smiling at each sound of lips leaving or touching his skin.

  
* * * * *  


Rose has been with Louis and Niall all morning so they can leech off her culinary expertise. They were a lazy couple as friends and did nothing more than sample all the food she made. Louis learnt as much as he could while he stole more biscuits from the cooling rack. 

Alfie burst through the kitchen doors immediately before Jack did, looking worn out with flushed cheeks and his eyes laser focused scanning the room for Louis. That wild gaze unnerved Louis when it settled on him. "M-Master called."

"Okay." Louis hops off his stool and squeezes Niall's arm as a farewell. 

Alfie races out of the kitchen again and Louis had to jog to be a fair pace behind him. Once in the foyer, Louis frowns at all the activity going on out there. Guards were scrambling out the door and other men went upstairs, their jackets flying back with the heavy breeze from outside bringing in a chilly air. The shimmer of their guns and polished blades did not go unnoticed.

Louis had a bad feeling as he quickened his strides and Dandelion Mike came up behind him, expressionless but still pointedly protective of Louis' six.

The entrance to Harry's study is guarded by three times as many men as usual and they all seem pretty unhappy about Louis being there, although the presence of Mike and the fact that Louis is Harry's favourite person, they have little say. Louis was aggravated just by them being so seemingly affected and irritated by him.

"Go on in, Louis." Mike holds the door open and glares at the men who try to stop him. "He's here for Master."

Louis manages to squeeze past the gathering of men that crowd Harry's door and whines when he at last ends up with the door behind him. It shuts soundly before there's a sudden bang of something _strong_ colliding with the hard wood on the other side.

"Har- _Oh God!_ " He is stopped short by his own scream upon turning around the see that Harry isn't alone in the room. "Harry!"

"Little one." Harry breathes out a tired sigh as he rushes over to Louis, armed with a coat in his hands that he uses to drape over the boy's shoulders. The unsettling snapping of jaws and gritting of teeth as they chipped away haunted Louis' hearing while he tried to block it out. "Don't be afraid, _macushla_. You are safe with me."

To the furthest end of the room and closest to the window, there sat a perfectly solid gilded cage where a chair should be. It stood to be taller than Harry and heavy in mass, one that required too much strength to move and was being shaken up by the enraged mutation contained in it. Harry kept Louis from looking too closely but the captive in his study made so much noise with the rattling cage and demented screeching that it was difficult.

Louis, or anyone at all for that matter who resided peacefully in the new world, has not seen a specimen of the viral outbreak in a year. They could never ignore the truth of the matter that it had existed and torn apart society like it meant nothing, but they did learn to live with it being a phenomenon of the past.

Now, right here in his _home_ was this hideous creature with an empty, black organ replacing its heart. It didn't even beat more than the dense ink that's taken the place of blood, bathing its innards in bloodthirst instead of humanity. Rotten nerves sourcing its sight and the dead cells of its facial features, this male antagonist was once a victim too. 

It bleated a ghastly sound rather than screamed, using an extensively high pitch to drive terrified chills down Louis' spine. There was no sign of the conscious the personality which the virus overtook controlled, just a puppet that was too weak to contend nature's deadliness. 

Louis turned completely away from the unsightly presence, seeking comfort when Harry embraced him. "What's that....Why is that _in here_ , Daddy?"

Harry picked Louis up by his knees and curling an arm around his back, pressing his lips to the boy's forehead whilst carrying him to his throne. "I need you to be with me while they sweep the mansion, little one."

"S-Sweep?" Louis' voice shook, much like his levels of self assurance. He looked up at Harry where his husband protectively at his side, eyes glued to the monster of a former man far away from them. "I don't like it being here."

They stopped referring to the creatures that men became with personified pronouns a long time ago, because when you looked into their eyes there was no evidence of life. Louis gripped Harry's forearm with both his hands so his husband couldn't get more than a centimetre away from him. He hid his face in Harry's side behind his arm, and tried to put faith in the fact that nothing was going to grab him from under the table.

"Don't worry about it, little one." Harry extended his arm and cradled the back of Louis' head, rubbing the boy's arm. He watched Louis fold his legs on the seat and mumble an incoherent word of trust. "The sweep is going to take a long while and has to be done more than once. Are you okay with sleeping in here?"

"No." Louis instantly disagrees, whimpering audibly at hearing more gagging from the creature across from him as it bit off its own flesh from being agitated. "Get it away, Harry."

"Hush, hush." Harry drops to his knees and secures both sides of Louis' face in his hands, looking into the most gorgeous blue eyes to ever be carved into a mortal. "It won't be here for longer than a minute, baby. My men will take it outside soon, okay? It will just be us."

"Still!" Louis protested assertively, blocking more of the noise out by burrowing into Harry's waist. "What's happening here, Harry?"

He was one to always be totally honest with Louis and this circumstance was going to be no different. Harry is a vehement patron of the total honesty policy when it came to matters such as these, because Louis had to be totally aware of what is going on if he is to occupy such a vital role as Harry's moral support. 

"This...thing got in somehow." Harry waves in annoyance to the battling third party, growling when it starts to scrape its nails along the steel rods. "There aren't many of the infected people left anywhere in the world, and after our security measures were put in place there are supposed to be _none_ in this territory."

Louis couldn't help but gasp in horror and look up at Harry expecting something more. "How....How is this possible?"

"We broke many important ties recently, little one." Harry sighs, and Louis has the curse of witnessing his husband looking exhausted. "It could have just been a malicious attack in spite."

Somehow this inhuman abomination that can only cause gory harm got into their lands, and furthermore into the mansion. The trial of having to comb through every wing of the house, every abandoned sector of it, was a responsibility that did not appeal to any leader.

The man looked over his shoulder and shielded Louis impulsively when the door swung open again, but it was only his men coming in a group to take the plagued beast away. Louis' heart stopped pounding against the sides of his chest and he rushed to his feet to keep up when Harry moved. 

"Shoot it." Harry orders his men curtly, walking to his side of the desk that housed all his belongings. He glanced at the idle men in irritation before erupting. "Now!"

Louis was not let go of while Harry extracted a gun from his top drawer and ensured that the weapon was loaded. He clicked the safety on and tucked it into the waistband of his jeans, reaching for the leather shirt that Alfie walks in with. It goes over his head while the guards load Harry's latest acquisition onto a trolley and roll it out of his office with their weapons ready for anything.

"Come, little one." Harry crouches so Louis can hop on his back, clasping those familiar thighs around his hips. "I have to see it being done."


	13. Chapter Thirteen.

**_[A/N: TRIGGER WARNING (I think at least) for animal cruelty. This is to celebrate (?) my return to school. - S xx]_ **

There wasn't an inkling of suspicion that Harry would have everyone hanging by a thread wanting to know what it is that caused so much of a commotion. Every servant had abandoned their duties to hang off balconies and peek through potted plants to see Harry's men carrying out an execution. 

Louis himself was still perched on Harry's back, a circumstance he could not evade with words. His loving husband was as overbearing as he was powerful, and made certain that Louis was as close to him in this occasion as possible. That meant clasping the boy's thighs by his knees to keep them hooked over his hips, and randomly kissing Louis' arms where they crossed at his clavicle.

The cage withholding a cursed free spirit was out there in the middle of the meadow directly under the glares of the unforgiving sun. Cracks in its skin and dying eyes indicated that not only was he severely dehydrated, but also starving. It snapped its jaws at anyone it saw and for the past ten minutes, Louis' the only one who couldn't look away.

Such ghastly black eyes were stunningly unnerving when focused on him, and Louis took to hiding his face in Harry's neck as soon as the attention became too much. Why was it looking at him like it _knew_ him?

"Okay, little one?" Harry had Louis put on a jacket and shoes before coming outside even though he wasn't technically on the ground. 

"Hmm." Louis answered in a musical hum. He pulls himself up a bit higher on Harry's back, resting his chin on the man's broad shoulder. Without him having a shirt on, Louis was able to kiss the bare skin of Harry's bicep and cuddle him from behind in light of his spidermonkey position. "How about you?"

Harry gives him a grave chuckle before supporting Louis' mission to climb higher by straining the muscle in his arms. "We can get dinner after we're done here, _macushla_."

"Thanks." Louis presses a quick peck to Harry's killer jawline, trying his best to avoid looking at the men hooking a steel collar around the viral creature's neck. He can hear the ripping of his flesh as it becomes more agitated and frustrated from being captive. "When will they be done checking the house?"

"It won't be over for a whole day, little one." Harry's voice carries through to Louis' ears but he's still staring straight ahead after the nagging at the back of his head won. 

He watched in rapt attentiveness as the destroyed human being, taunted by a violent disease, was dragged out of the cage. It kicked and thrashed about under their abuse, growling aggressively when it was prodded and jabbed with the jagged tips of the guards' knives. Bleeding out onto the lush grass and screeching from the brutality attacking it, the poor creature made Louis feel awful for it.

Until it clicked for him why the horrid thing _knew_ him.

"Oh my God." He whispers with quivering lips and an even more unstable ricochet of his heart thudding against the sides of his ribcage. 

"Little- Louis!" Harry can't stop Louis from jumping out of his arms but he does put all his weight into restricting the boy from running off _towards the execution._

He winds both his arms around Louis' middle and yanks him backward, letting the boy feel crushed against his chest when he resists him. Louis fusses with his husband's steady grip, trying to also stop himself while instinct drove him forward. 

"What are you doing?" Harry spoke harshly into his ear, obviously maddened by Louis' display of misbehaviour. "Louis."

Those deep and dead eyes lingering familiarly above the slightest traces of facial hair. The torn skin in the corner of a mouth where a lip piercing used to be. Louis knows this creature from a past life, or rather the man that belonged to this skin.

Louis knew it was wrong to disobey Harry and try running across the meadow only to be met with cruel dissatisfaction. The person he knew was no longer mentally present, and there was no saving him. Louis couldn't help himself when there was a tug on his heart, the thin rope attached to the beating organ that was joined to everyone he befriended and treasured. In Harry's arms he hid, and cried when the gunshots went off.

"Don't want to be h-here." Louis had explaining to do, and beyond his small statement there was nothing more needed for Harry to pick him up. He was carried by his husband onto the mansion's pebbled back porch and through the door that was closest to Harry's study.

Harry held back every facet of idealistic aggravation and red hot anger while he kept Louis hoisted. His little husband was hurting and the reason for it is soon to be revealed. Louis felt the cold from outside being cut off when his skin got toasty and slightly pink. Harry's study almost always had a fire going and now he discovered a layout of bedding and pillows close to it.

There was food on the table under a set of cloches and Harry carried Louis all the way over to a vacant seat. It was a bitter realisation when Louis came to it - he and Harry were sitting in separate chairs. His spouse was right beside him with a blanket that he covered Louis' legs with, and reached out to clasp his hand.

"I want to know what that was out there, little one." Harry spoke softly and like he was approaching an injured animal.

Louis swallowed the threat of more tears when that face came back to haunt him. Merely one tear fell stray to the rest and he stared blankly at the ground. "I-I knew him."

Harry heard a rare emotion in Louis' voice, remorse. It was like acid in the form of molasses and poisoned him upon the smallest contact. He was _irritated_ to hear it come from Louis when he thought of another stranger. "Okay. How?"

"M-My old settlement." Louis used the back of his hand to wipe away his tears and sniffled loudly, throat closing around his words. "L-Luke. He was my best friend."

Louis burst into tears again and it was too _real_ for Harry to ignore. As possessive as he was, his lover was hurting and that stung him so deeply to witness. He pushed Louis' chair back a bit and got down on his knees to be on the boy's level. Hands caught the sides of Louis' damp face, brushing away his hot tears and tasteless lips kissed his burning eyelids.

"Shh. It's fine, little one. I'm sorry." Harry kneeled - and would continue to for as long as is needed - whilst kissing away Louis' troubles. The boy's hands were wrapped around his wrists, holding on tightly with his slender fingers. "I'm so sorry, _macushla_. I wasn't aware of that."

Being looked at for the first time by those searing blue orbs felt like when they first met and Louis had a dozen different feelings gushing through him. This time though, it was all just muddled forms of anguish and regret. He had left out the detail in his story about that best friend having feelings for him - they were never reciprocated. 

Luke went on a hunt as part of a group two days before Louis' mother brought him here to meet Harry. He still remembers how brightly he'd smiled and shouted a promise to bring back the _prettiest rabbit_ he could find for Louis. 

"It's okay." Louis smiled through his tears, forced and weak as it was. It did nothing to bring life to his eyes again. 

He was pulled down onto Harry's lap, partially hidden by the table's broad shadow, when Louis started crying involuntarily again. The emotional display was foreign to Harry and he struggled to handle himself around a sobbing Louis. All he could do was hold him, kiss his hair and his lips. 

"H-He....-" Louis couldn't bring himself to say it without tasting fresh tears on his lips, words choked up and voice clogged with the lump in his throat. A foul devastation lay rotting in his chest, remorse building its worst bullet. "He knew i-it was me."

"That's not true, little one." Harry reassures him. He didn't dare want Louis thinking he could saved a creature like that. 

Louis found Harry's tail lying lifeless on the floor and aided it in encircling his middle, tight as usual. Amusing as it was to witness him grasping the thick muscle that lay curled around him, Harry knew that it gave Louis a fantastic form of grounding. Worrying about Harry turning into something as horrid as what Louis just witnessed is seldom highlighted, because the tail was evidence of the fact that he's already beaten it.

"Stay with me tonight, Daddy." Louis spoke, eyes glued to the crackling fireplace. His voice was a lifeless husk of what it usually was.

"Of course." Harry tucked Louis' slightly overgrown hair behind his ear and kissed his cheek. 

Louis sighed, exhausted and emotionally drained. He was lightly scratching the coarse skin of Harry's tail with his blunt fingernails. "I mean, don't go anywhere. Even to handle.....anything."

"Alright." Harry has never heard this request from Louis before, and for it to happen now then his husband must truly need him. "I won't leave you."

Harry helped Louis get into their make-shift bed by the fire with ease. He took off the boy's shoes and socks, watching his small feet disappear beneath the covers instantly. Louis took off his lengthy sweat pants in favour of remaining in his scandalous underwear that's hardly able to cover his behind properly. 

They're wrapped up in each other soon enough after Louis' managed to stomach a fraction of the food brought to them, and hid in Harry's neck again. The latter had to finish his recently habitual glass of Scotch before returning the embrace, letting the alcohol burn his throat so that he may hold his lover.

Somehow, although it did not entirely confuse Harry, the man found himself under Louis. His feisty little husband was shoving out of his mind all the hurt he experienced an hour before by climbing onto Harry's lap. He kept the man from protesting by silencing him with deeply severe kisses, ones that melted Harry's self control.

"Little one." Harry had to try to deny him. If it were any other person at any other period of time prior to meeting Louis, he would have went along with this. But he can't when Louis was just trying to ignore pain instead of handle it. "This isn't healthy."

He got a frustrated pout in response to that argument, and moaned guiltily into Louis prodding at his own with a hot little tongue. "You don't want me, Daddy?"

"I _always_ want you." Harry growled from the friction caused by Louis unzipping his jeans, their lips connected only because Louis is biting harshly at his bottom one. "Baby, today wasn't a good day for you. Are you sure you want this?"

"Yes." Louis was a little snippy and he released Harry's monstrous c*ck from the tight confines of his jeans. Even soft Harry has much to be proud of. "I want to ride you this time, Daddy."

Weak against Louis' will, Harry let his delightfully energetic and hasty lover do as he pleased. Somewhere between pumping Harry's c*ck and balancing himself so he remained upright, Louis found the motivation to replace his hand with his mouth. He _convinced_ to let him do this by taking in as much of the man's length as he can whilst sucking on its sensitive state.

The taste is what he needed and he rough hand at the back of his head that's guiding him through it. Louis gags on the erection clogging his throat, especially when Harry forces him down deeper than he's taken before and holds him down. Air escapes his lungs and his throat constricts around Harry, pleasured tears stinging the corners of his eyes.

After being allowed to pull off, Louis meets Harry's heated stare while he makes quick work of kicking off his underwear. He stretches himself out so he can kiss Harry, deep and lazy like all their kisses. His tongue dances with Harry's to an imaginary rhythm like their matching heartbeats. He gasps when something that isn't Harry's hands - those are already being used to pin Louis' wrists down.

"Hush." Harry warned him with a sharp nibble to Louis' upper lip, smirking into their kiss when Louis starts rolling his hips back against the friction of his tail rubbing over his hole. "Enjoy it, little one."

 _"Daddy."_ Louis arched his back so his behind was pushed back further into the delicious treatment. He let's Harry's tongue delve into his mouth and lick an imaginary taste off the roof and his molars. 

"Quiet." Harry reached around and behind Louis, his palm gliding along baby soft skin. He spanks his right cheek so Louis falls forward, prey to Harry's deeds. "You wanted this, little one."

Louis whimpered so helplessly and out of breath that Harry had no choice but to grant him some mercy. By that, he meant ensuring that Louis' legs were securely astride his waist before prying his tail away from the boy's more than just needy hole. It's become no secret that the rough and usual unpleasant state of Harry's tail made Louis fall apart very quickly. 

Harry sucked on his own two fingers and hurriedly leaned forward to sneak them over Louis' hip. He prepped Louis with fast and thorough thrusts of his fingers that are plunged as deep as they can go. Louis makes breathless _'ah ah ah'_ sounds while his entire form is rocked with sudden jerks.

Having any part of Harry inside him is intoxicating, utterly destructive in its manner of tearing him apart. Louis enjoys it though. The harsh tugging on his insides, like the sharpest parts of his husband were getting stuck on what was most vulnerable about him. It didn't scare him when it started to hurt like it did the first time, the burn from being stretched wider than he's used to.

"Daddy." Louis reached down between his legs when Harry pulled his fingers out, and grabs hold of the man's throbbing c*ck to position himself above. He took Harry's hands in his, fingers interlocked, and sunk down on him terribly slow. The gruelling pleasure led him to toss his head back, grinding his hips for each inch he fell. "Feels so good, D-Daddy."

Harry's hands broke free to roam all over Louis' body. He pushed Louis' shirt up higher and pinched the boy's pert little nipples, rolling them between his fingertips. A groan of undeniable satisfaction ripped through him when Louis was bottomed out on top of him, his hips circling in figure eights while he pushed his hair back on his forehead.

There was the slightest hint of a bump in Louis' extremely lower abdomen, showing off the tightness of his figure from being wrapped around Harry's engorged c*ck. He planted his palms over Harry's pectorals and waited for his stressed walls to relax, to mould the way they're meant to fit Harry's shaft.

"Okay?" Harry touched Louis' cheek and cursed below his regular volume when Louis sucked his thumb into his mouth. His husband was made to torture him. "You'll fucking kill me one day, baby."

Louis winked down at him and raised his hips only to firmly drop them seconds later, after enjoying the brief suspension when only the head of Harry's length was in him. He let out a long, high pitched moan at the sudden beating to his insides, and the discovery of his sweet spot so quickly.

"Move, little one." He spanked Louis' bottom again and watched him glare spontaneously in return. 

Being the well groomed sport that he is, Louis obediently started to pick up his pace. His knees protested when the strain in his thighs was too tense, but pushed on just to feel the ache. Harry bent his knees and held Louis' slim waist to aid him in the smooth rise and fall of his thrusts. Occasionally, he'd buck his hips upward to collide with Louis' and those thrusts were most amazing.

He could never feel better than when he's buried to the hilt inside his beautiful husband. Harry grew impatient from Louis' slow bounces and flipped them over so abruptly. Louis reacted by shrieking from the deep penetration being maintained, his brutish lover slamming aggressively back into him when only a tiny bit of him slipped out.

"Harry!" His nails scratched down Harry's back when his leg was lifted over Harry's hip and the man leaned on his forearms. The thrusts were aimed precisely for his prostate and their skin shone with sweat as Louis was shoved closer to his orgasm.

"You will come twice." Harry's heated words were whispered into his ear, and Louis suffered the severe pounding of his lover's relentless thrusts. His fists caught the sheets and bunched them up beneath his arms, screams leaving his sore throat because Harry was so passionately ruining his body. 

Louis' breathing was choppy and ragged, his nails raking so harshly down Harry's back that the man couldn't help himself from growling. It both hurt and aroused him to know that Louis didn't care about being reserved, and totally let go of himself during sex. Getting to see all those inhibitions crumble one by one, releasing their catches on his mind, was magnificent.

Harry pulled out and as much as it was torture for himself to be unsheathed from his sweet lover, it was miserable for said lover. Louis whimpered from the loss of being filled between his quivering thighs and let his hands wander the sheets looking for his husband. To remind the boy that he is not only right there but also never leaving, Harry captures Louis' fingers between his and kisses his knuckles. 

A soft _'oomf'_ tumbles out from Louis when he's flipped onto his front, face smashed into the emperor's pillow. 

"Arch for me, baby." Harry's hands skim over his back down to Louis' posterior, squeezing and kneading the firm flesh. 

Obediently, Louis steadies his knees and breathes harshly into the sheets. His spine curves in a sinful arch that's expertly poised to ruin Harry, make him grumble and immediately shuffle forward to bury himself in the glistening hole that's right there for him. It was perfectly deeper this way, holding Louis' upper half down so just his pert bottom was risen for him.

Louis cried out when the head of Harry's pulsing member was nestled right against his sweet spot. It felt incredible to experience the tiniest waves of shock and pleasure being initiated by skin brushing raw tissue. He fell forward from his elbows when Harry grabbed hold of his hips from behind and started thrusting.

Each thrust was wild and athletically coordinated, slamming into Louis with depth so remarkable that it stole his breath. Bruises were forming on his waist in the print of Harry's fingertips, muscular thighs making quick snaps against Louis' delicate ones. Screams and excitable moans filled the room, wall to wall and glossing over their eyes as one intention overcame them.

He got close again and Louis started thrusting back, shuddering as he welcomed the pounding his husband mindlessly delivered to him. Sensitive and torn open as he felt down between his legs, the momentary pleasure was more undeniable. Harry's tail was around his waist and it tightened as the indication that the owner was also nearing the edge.

"D-Daddy." Louis found a moment of clarification and clung to it, gasping and biting his lip when the delicious torture didn't stop. Skin slapped skin and his insides were trembling. 

Harry pulled out again and Louis' body was too electrified to sag; he instead rolled himself over onto his back and grinned dreamily when his husband's body effortlessly cloaked his. Hands extended towards Harry's shoulderblades and felt the vile scratches he left there, the wince from the man when he grazed them.

Louis' jaw fell slack when his knees were kicked apart and Harry was inside him again, taking up every bit of empty space. He closed his legs around the man on top of him and watched Harry's gaze melt into something demented, controlled by his impure lust.

"Little one." Harry's hand slid down to Louis' legs and grasped his thighs, bucking his hips with deranged athleticism before he felt the boy release between their fronts. He brought his lips to Louis' ear and continued to rock in and out of his shivering husband. "Good boy. You f-feel fucking amazing."

Harry came while still deep inside Louis, releasing his copious amounts of seed into the boy and riding out the aftershocks. He barely became soft enough to pull out in the silent minutes to follow, still huddled over Louis as they bathed in this warm afterglow.

"I love you." Louis pulled Harry's face out of his neck to say with a soft smile that just about reached his eyes. He kissed Harry's lips delicately. "I know you're not ready yet. I still do."

Harry suffered a very forthcoming heart attack at Louis' divine proclamation, and made an insecure growl come from his chest. He kissed Louis with his hands framing the boy's face, begging the blistering heat in his abdomen to give way. It never did around Louis.

"My little Louis." The man pulled away to look into Louis' sparkling oceanic eyes, each one a glimpse into the free spirit that is his husband. "I feel like no matter how powerful I become, I will always be a slave to you."

A blush colours Louis' cheeks and he turns towards the blazing fireplace, watching some of the stone get touched by the orange flames. He doesn't let any amount of sadness surface with him, because he had to be patient with Harry. His husband is a man that's never known love.

"I had something made for you." Harry remembers suddenly and laughs at Louis squawk when he gets off the boy. He soothes his dishevelled lover with a chaste kiss to his forehead. 

Harry reaches over to his extensive desk and pulls down a black bag, that looks to be brimming with its contents. He sets it down beside Louis before patting the boy's hip, a small warning that he uses with Louis. 

"Don't." Harry prevented Louis from sitting up, and extracted a white leather case from within the bag. Unbranded and with a little golden latch at the front, Louis feels content just giggling at the aesthetically pleasing box. 

"What is it, Daddy?" He asks curiously, holding onto Harry's arms so he can peer into the case. 

Harry opens the case for Louis and sets it down on the ground to make it easier on the latter to appreciate. Rather than outrage, there's brilliant laughter than erupts from Harry's little lover. He props himself up on his elbows to kiss Harry silly, silently thanking his husband for such _consideration._ Louis loves the shimmering, jet black butt plug that he's faced with so much.

"It's perfect." He giggles, feeling giddy and his insides twist in bubbly enthusiasm. "Thank you."

Louis picks the opaque sex toy out of its custom case and examines it. The size is reasonably small to serve the purpose of keeping him full without the added torture of becoming sore. At the base though, is the reason for his fresh wave of a mesmerising blush.

"What's this?" His fingertip traces over the deep red jewel, engraved with silver initials. _H.S._

Harry is smirking when he meets Louis' lips with his, stealing the toy from his lover. He tugs on Louis' bottom lip to feel it swelling up. "I thought it would speak boldly of my devotion."

"Hmm." Louis' fingers combed through Harry's curly locks, tilting his head to the side so that he may deepen their kiss for tongues to entangle and teeth to clash. He squeaks when he's hauled swiftly onto his husband's lap, legs spread sufficiently. "What you up to, Daddy?"

The tip of the brand new plug is tapped on Louis' lips, pressing into his mouth for lubrication. He does a sinful job of it, hollowing his cheeks when he knows Harry is staring entirely spellbound. The plastic taste is easily ignored when Louis has the heat of Harry's lustful stare on him, peering up through his wet lashes at his hot and bothered husband.

Harry makes Louis sit upright and astride his lap when he's pushing the plug into him, fitting it snuggly between his cheeks. The boy responds all the while by biting his lip and letting it intrude on his body in a delicious way. They made quick work of wiping Louis clean with a rag and Harry remains content with a lapful of his beautiful lover when he's showing off the rest of his presents.

"More gifts?" Louis sounds excited and eager. He hasn't gotten a gift in many years, not that it's been in his top priority list. "You're really my Daddy, aren't you?"

Harry doesn't know how to respond to that other than by chuckling and shaking his head. He pulls out a more flimsy box from the bag and lays it across Louis' lap. "This gift is more.....optional."

"Oh?" Louis tosses the box's lid aside and gasps, eyes peeled wide open in a type of rare appreciation. He feels the heat in his cheeks when Harry starts kissing him there, hooking an arm around his husband's shoulders. "I bet it's highly recommended though."

"Certainly." Harry smiles bravely, chin set on Louis' shoulder. He nibbles on the boy's earlobe to further tempt it. "Yay or nay, little one?"

Louis picks one of the lacier panties, white with a matching little bow at the waistline. It felt smooth and promising against his palm, like it could be withholding serious comfort against his behind once wearing it. "Definitely yay."

  
* * * * *  


Louis was not back to normal the next day, but it seemed like only Harry could tell. He was behaving in the polite and humble manner he always did around others but his relationship with Harry went beyond social niceties. He allowed himself to be a little less pretentious in front of him.

Alfie has been busy with Harry all morning for a thorough inspection of the mansion and all its yards. He was walking, shouting and being pissed off all morning. As it already happens, Harry had to wake up in a bed on the floor without Louis after suffering two nightmares in a midnight hour. He had Louis pressed against him to suppress that trauma, but even so he only managed to get three hours of sleep.

There were no weaknesses in the mansion's security so Harry had no idea how the awful creature from yesterday got in. The issue bothered him so much that he ran two more checks by himself until he was exhausted enough to collapse into his study chair. 

How did it get in? Did someone let it in? Why did it have to be someone that Louis _knew_? 

Having only one ally left in this changing world, the same powerful ally whose son works in his stables, Harry needed to call a meeting with them. If it's a threat from a spiteful former friend then anyone he trusted must be aware. 

There's a knock on his door amidst his thinking and he breathes out audibly, letting the rush of air couple the sealing of his eyelids. His tiredness was not leaving him alone today. "Enter."

The door creaks and the lightest, graceful footsteps follow it. He smiles to himself although his eyes remain shut, because he recognises those rhythmic footing. There's suddenly a lapful of Louis situated on him, accompanied by the vanilla scent of his freshly showered husband and something baked.

"Hi." Louis set something down on the desk behind him and captures Harry's lips with his for a gentle, loving kiss with a smile. "A little birdy told me that my husband is over-working himself today."

"Hmph." Harry grunts miserably when Louis has to withdraw from their united lips. "I'll kill that bird."

"Open up, Daddy. I made something for you." Louis pats Harry's torso and straightens his back whilst retaking the plate laden with the iced cake he baked for his grouchy lover. 

Harry opened his heavy eyelids and cleared his throat, an adoring smile on his features when he clasps Louis' hips under his over-sized T-shirt. It was one of Harry's oldest one with a wine stain down the side, but the real attraction comes from the pair of bare legs wrapped around him. Beneath the shirt is just a pair of the new panties Harry bought, and it made the man frown.

"You've been dressed this way all morning, little one?" Harry's fingers got tighter on Louis' back as his protective instincts hit over-drive. He _despised_ the thought of other eyes seeing Louis so bare.

"Nope." Louis gestured to a pool of fabric on the floor that was his sweatpants. He pecked Harry's cheek and kept his lips there, giggling when it comforted a grumble from the man. "I thought you'd prefer me like this anyway."

Harry chuckled gravely and suckled lightly on Louis' neck, taking full advantage to grope the boy's plump behind. He groans appreciatively at the full feeling that his fingers and palms cup so possessively. "And what's the cake for, little one?"

It was deep brown so definitely chocolate, and covered in pastel yellow icing. It smelt delicious and Louis looked so damn proud of it, holding the treat up to Harry's face. "Happy birthday!"

"What?" Harry laughs and steadies Louis' hands so the single candle digging into the center of the cake isn't too close to his face. 

"It's birthday cake." Louis explains with a beaming smile, putting the cake down and shuffling to sit on Harry's left thigh. "Remember when I said we were going to celebrate your birthday? Well that's what we're doing."

"Oh alright then." Harry doesn't feel anything short of joy and admiration in Louis' company, therefore he hugs Louis' waist tightly with a nibble to the boy's throat. He leans over Louis' shoulder to blow out the candle, and stop the boy from cheering. "Happy, little one?"

"It's your birthday." Louis wiggles around to cut a slice of cake, messing his fingers in the process so that Harry has to stick them into his mouth to lick the icing off. "Open up."

Louis messes Harry's mouth with cake before actually feeding the man any of it. He giggles at his husband's state afterwards, and wipes off the excess cake from Harry's chin and cheek. They share in a sweet kiss that gets icing over their faces again, and Louis wraps his arms around the man when he can feel a smile coming on. 

"Now." Louis sits back after he's cleaned them up and his lips taste like Harry rather than themselves. He looks at his bemused lover. "Why are you so busy today?"

With a heavy sigh that's fully indicative of Harry's internal struggle, the man tries to let Louis see him at his worst right now. "I got very little sleep last night."

"What?" Louis felt horrible and so did the leap of his heart into his throat. Guilt riddled the motion. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Harry laughs like the question itself is preposterous. "Watching you sleep is the reason I got any myself."

"Still, Daddy." Louis pulled on Harry's shirt lapels and kissed him on a spontaneous whim. He looked into the man's eyes when he spoke, to be as precise and honest as can be. "Promise me you'll wake me up if that happens again."

"I take my promises very seriously, baby."

"I know. That's why I'm making you promise me this." The fierce determination in Louis' eyes was not to be doubted when he held Harry's face in his hands and forced the man to see it. "Promise me."

Harry couldn't close his eyes when Louis was looking at him so intently, so much concern for the well-being of his husband. "My nightmares are not something I want you to worry about."

"So if I had nightmares, you wouldn't care?" Louis is very skilled at both meanings of getting on top of Harry. He's a graceful minx.

"I would." Harry nodded, sensing his own defeat on the rise. 

"Come on." Louis wiggles and lowers the volume of his voice to be exactly the phantom goddess of Harry's imagination. "Promise me or I'm never wearing panties again."

"Fuck, okay. I fold."

  
* * * * *  


Louis asked Niall to accompany him to the stables. He remembers a mysterious Zayn character having been mentioned at Harry's disastrous dinner party, who was never properly thanked - or reprimanded - for buying Harry's husband a drink. Now that Harry had new occupations with new meaning behind them up in his study, Louis could sneak away out across the courtyard with a partner in crime.

"Liam is going to be pissed." Niall whispers to Louis when they're jogging across the yard. "Imagine Harry!"

"They did a thousand inspections, Niall. It's perfectly secure." Louis reassures him as they come to a stop outside the horses' stables and Dandelion Mike is just behind them. He's been assigned to keep Louis safe whenever Harry isn't around.

The stables are made of old school wood that's thick planks nailed together with steel. Sheets of iron went over that to keep the structure stable, and pebbles were scattered across the ground through the horses' paddock leading onto the grazing fields. Fortunately, all the animals were indoors now and few stable boys were monitoring them.

"Hi." Louis greeted the youngest one that immediately stood up from a haystack upon his arrival, looking both thrilled and terrified to have the Master's husband here. "How are you?"

"F-Fine." The terrible nervous lad in muddy boots and bronze hair replied, although he was taller than Louis by an inch or two. 

"I'm glad." Louis smiled sweetly and lightly squeezed the boy's arm. "Say, can you tell me if Zayn is here?"

Before the shaky lad can reply, the crunching of pebbles beneath heavy boots comes from behind him. Niall's hand grasps Louis' forearm and drags his focus back to someone new that's approaching them. True to his act, there is the familiar sight of a smug individual in dusty coveralls and a stunningly well carved facial structure.

It had to be Zayn. In his denim get-up and smirking exterior, Louis glowers when the man himself offers a very unsettling catcall.

"My, my." Zayn's voice is a silky drawl, although it pales in comparison to the physical response Harry's voice elicits from Louis. "I never thought I'd ever have the privilege of meeting Master's Queen."

Louis can see Zayn's face now without any mask to hide it partially. He has a divine jaw and facial hair that's noticeable enough to be perfect on him, a slight stubble on his tanned skin. Something about his gaze raking over him made Louis feel like he's being mentally undressed.

Zayn sends Louis' present companion away and takes the poor boy's place. "Am I finally about to be repaid for the drink?"

"What? No." Louis shakes his head to rid his mind of self consciousness, and snaps his fingers in front of Zayn's wandering gaze. "Up here, if you don't mind."

Zayn takes his sweet time returning to Louis' eyes. His own were hazel brown, and alight with humour. "If I'm never going to taste it, might as well enjoy looking."

A disgusted scoff comes first from Niall behind Louis before the boy himself, and Zayn's animated attention falls on him. Niall grips Louis' hand a little tighter and pointedly tries to ignore the arrogant host. Zayn chuckles, pure liquid caramel, at the nervous behaviour being displayed towards him.

"Liam's not going to be happy you're here." Zayn says to Niall directly, a cackling fool when the latter's head snaps toward him. "He and I never got along, to put it lightly."

"He told me." Niall glowers lethally at Zayn even after Louis requests that he settle down by tapping his knuckle. 

Zayn turns back to Louis, his focus just as akin to a serpent as before. It only worsens, a black twinkle initiated in the corner of his eye. "May I offer you a tour?"

"No thanks." Louis says, although it comes across as a little sour. He hates when people provoke his attitude to turn bitter. 

"Oh, your Highness." Zayn sauntered over to Louis' personal space and held a hand out towards both of them for the taking. "I must insist."

"Lou." Dandelion Mike intervenes at the moment he thinks to be most fit, and steps between them. He looks at Louis with remote honesty and the hope to convince him. "We should go back."

Louis looks Zayn's devious little smirk and glares at him. Here he was thinking it was safe to make new friends when he isn't allowed to leave the property of this mansion, although it appears as if the universe is against that. He nods and ignores Zayn's feigned heartbreak to accompany Niall back up the walkway they came from.

"He's obnoxious." Niall mutters in frustration once their shoes touch the meadow's grass again. 

Louis raises his head from staring at the ground and giggles. "I concur. Still, I wish I got to see the horses."

"Maybe tomorrow."

The wind has picked up around them and is whipping around them viciously, billowing out Louis' shirt and messing with the setting of his fringe. Not just did it seem to have a type of wildness about it, it howled against the rustling treetops and Louis heard more than a few critters protesting against the chill. He's lucky that Snow took a liking to Harry's fireplace and chose to stay there for most of the day.

He holds his hair out of his eyes and sees that Niall is talking to Mike some feet away, being very expressive with his customary hand gestures. Louis watches his breath turn a little frosty and pouts boredly while scanning the treeline.

Something catches his eye, a pair of something actually. He squints through the wind and its talons to get a closer look, although the poor state of his eyesight was to his disadvantage. It looked like two floating spheres at first, glowing like crystals until they _moved_ and the outline of something human came with it.

"Mike?" Louis called to his guard while trying to discern what he was seeing. It stepped closer by one more stride it was out of the trees, right there for him to clearly identify as another foul creature. "Mike!"

His security man took note of the urgency in Louis' voice and turned as well, even Niall, to see the part human angling its head away from the sun and snarling like a rabid animal at the ground. The person it used to be was dressed in a hoodie and jeans, those articles of clothing now torn and dirtied with blood or mud. It sniffed though it could not possibly smell, and was suddenly all eyes for Louis.

The creature was closer to Louis than the mansion. He felt his heart beat a thousand paces at once, and reached to his left for Mike to take his hand. 

"What's it doing?" Niall asked when nobody from Harry's guardsmen pounced on the intruding abomination. 

It was tilting its head to the skies. All the rotting veins and decaying skin came on display by the bright sun's rays. Nose risen and chin dribbling with saliva, it produced an ear-splitting noise that's akin to a piercing screech. Louis covered his ears but still the sound penetrated his hands, raking its nails down the membrane of his eardrums. 

The horrid bleating stopped and everything, including time, seemed to stop around Louis for a moment. Those beady, dead crimson eyes were concentrated on him like the owner had a vendetta. But unlike his deceased friend, Louis does not recognise this face.

Mike draws Louis away from where he's so vulnerable and nudges him towards the mansion, having already chased a stubborn Niall on his way too. "Go. Get inside."

Louis had to look after he'd nodded shakily and because he did, he saw what he wishes he could erase. The diseased creature with broken skin and bleeding nails had taken out something from its pocket, like it could ever possess the intelligence in this state to know how pockets worked. It was a small ball of fur, pure white and shivering from the cold. _A bunny._

Louis forced himself to not run in its direction and save the poor animal, but the sheer hurt that filled his chest when he saw its blood spilt from having its flesh torn right on the spot, did not ease up. He choked back a hot sob - his closest attachment has always been to animals before meeting Harry - and pushed his legs to run. 

It felt like the creature _knew_ Louis loved bunnies, like the time when he knew Luke who had promised to bring him back one. Why did it feel like their offences were because of him? Louis heard a gunshot echo behind him but it still softer than the screech he'd heard come from the victim of that bullet.

He made it onto the mansion's porch and turned a bend before slamming into a hard chest. Tears flowed a bit more freely because he could see that rabbit struggling and the face of a past best friend that he's been trying to escape all day. This chest felt familiar though under his shaky fingertips and the scent was nearly entirely matched to that of his husband. 

Louis didn't even look up before burying his face in Harry's neck and hugging him for comfort. He was only more certain as a tail curled over his waist and brought him in closer, a pair of lips at his temple. Hands rubbed his back soothingly, like Harry didn't need to know anything and yet he wanted to help make Louis feel happier.

"What's wrong, lovely? What happened?"


	14. Chapter Fourteen.

**_[A/N: I love how you people have all kinds of 'colourful' names for my Edward. O.o - S xx]_ **

**"What's wrong, lovely? What happened?"**

Louis need not raise his head to know it's Harry embracing him this way, a hint of more aggression behind the strength in his arms. He succumbs to the blistering heat of his husband's hold and burrows into his chest, hiccuping on choked breaths. His fingers curl around the lapels of Harry's shirt to keep him close and for the fabric to dampen with his tears.

"Louis?" Harry brushes the boy's hair back and rubs the section of his spine that's curved between his shoulderblades. "Talk to me."

First Louis shakes his head and insists that they go indoors because he stand the phantom of blood's stench. Harry leads him in through the dining room and sweeps Louis away down the hallway while his guards take it upon themselves to seal the mansion like a tomb. At all costs, the Master and his husband must be kept safe.

"Now-" Harry won't allow Louis to hide any longer, much unlike all the other times he senses that some aspect of his husband has been traumatised. He cups Louis' face in his hands with a callous manner and makes the boy look up. "-I can't read your mind, lovely. What is the matter?"

Louis whimpers a little bit and let's all his hope for comfort shine through his blues. "Th-That _thing_....it's out there, Daddy. It was looking at _me_! What did I do? I c-can't- I'm scared."

Harry's first act is to look at the guards around them, silently ordering one in a whisper to have everything shut down. The mansion needs to be preserved.

"Lovely." Harry's eyes capture Louis' as prisoner, commanding their attention with the little frown playing on the edge of his brow. "You know that's not true. It wasn't looking at _you._ "

"No, it was." Louis insists, shaking his head and still trembling a bit while he points with a shaky hand to the door they just came through. "I-I swear."

"Alright. I'm sorry, lovely boy." Harry embraces his Louis as tight as he needs, kissing the top of the boy's head as Louis fights to smother his crying. He let's Louis lean on him, standing stiffly while the boy comes to grips with a calm. "You're safe now."

Louis doesn't ask for it and didn't know he needed it until Harry picks him up in a cradle. He grips the man's shoulders and stares with wide eyes at the man grasping him so firmly. "W-What-"

"Shh." Harry's smirking when he kisses Louis, a quick peck that ends too soon for the latter's liking. "I'm going to put you to bed."

"No." Louis clings to Harry, arms and legs wrapped wholesale around the man's lean form. "S-Stay with me, Daddy."

Harry makes an indecipherable noise that originates in the depths of his chest, but continues to trek up the stairs from the corner. He moves more swiftly than usual when he's jogging up the steps like Louis weighs nothing at all. Louis doesn't want to be left alone. What if his dreams became haunted by the foul existences like those he's seen twice in these recent hours? 

He refused to release his husband's astoundingly _broader_ shoulders when he's being lowered to the bed. There was every bit of feral desperation unleashed in his earnest eyes. "Don't leave."

"Lovely." Harry took Louis' hands and kissed them one after the other, a smile playing on his features. "There are things I must attend to now."

"Are they more important than me, Daddy?" Louis attuned his focus to pick up Harry's response to the term everytime he said it, and something in his jaw didn't tick this time. Peculiar.

Harry waited to kiss Louis' lips again, too chaste to be one of their normal unions. Even in greeting or _passing in the hallway_ they shared more passionate kisses, because each time felt like a breath of fresh air. Louis frowned afterwards in obvious longing of that same flame. 

"Ten minutes, lovely." Harry promised, returning Louis' hands to him. The red of his eyes were so fierce, it made Louis feel more intimidated than endeared. "Yes?"

"Okay." He wasn't sure this Harry was the same as all the rest, personality wise. Something must have happened before they encountered each other because Harry didn't even question why Louis was outside in the first place.

He waited until his mercurial husband and the trail of misunderstood shades of personality to leave. The door locked but Louis wasn't too worried because he had his own key, and counted to fifty before springing out of bed.

Something was _different_ and Louis will be damned if he didn't scratch the itch of curiosity. Harry was suffering from severe mood swings - although anger was never directed at him - or something of the like. There were times when he held Louis too tight and forced him too much to obey, even without asking it. This time specifically, Louis felt like he was looking into someone else's red eyes.

"Damn it." He looked around in the desk drawer where he always kept his silver key for the room, tossing everything out to finally see it at the bottom of the chaos.

Pulling on some clean socks after abandoning his shoes, Louis exchanges all his clothing for more suitable choices. Fabric covers every part of his skin from the neck down, and he quietly tiptoes to the door. He inserts the key and twists, pulling the door open gently. 

Before the silhouette appears, there's the heavy drag of a body's mass reluctantly doing its duty. A guard that Louis doesn't recognise - yet he makes it his task to befriend as many as possible - blocks his path of leaving entirely. Disgruntled expression atop his already evident grim mood, the bulky individual towers over Louis to a frightening degree.

"Excuse me." Louis rubs his eyes and yawn, proud of himself for trying to be convincing. 

He isn't let to pass, which makes him frown in confusion. The guard with bronze hair and alarmingly dull grey eyes glares down at him. "Can't leave. You have to wait."

"For what?" Louis raises his eyebrow. As much as red flags are sprinting to go up all over his subconscious, a display of hostility is not what this consequence needs. 

The staunch guard merely stares. "Go back inside." 

"I need water." Louis is counting greatly on the fact that this bafoon must not know about the bathroom in his bedroom. "You can get it or you can come with me to get it."

After a moment of silent deliberation, Louis' captor nods and allows him to go ahead. That does not happen without the guard following too closely behind him. Louis hates this, feeling like a prisoner in his own damn home. He looks around for any familiar face but the poor servant girls don't need this. 

Walking down the hallway to the staircase, Louis has sweat beading on his brow and a heart that's bounding out of his chest. Fear is cascading against his ribcage like babbling brooks, and he can't _breathe_ without a slight wheeze. Despite all this, he's survived the new world and the war that birthed it long enough to know discretion.

Some deity smiles down at him because Zayn happens to be walking across the foyer when Louis is almost there himself. The guard is forgotten for a moment even though the grip on Louis' arm is cruelly tight. 

"Zayn!" He shouts cheerily, swallowing the fear in his throat and yanking his arm free to race down the rest of the stairs.

This newest acquaintance of his is _not_ who his first choice would be but Louis is thankful to have anyone rather than nobody. His elbow stings with the residual bruise from his harsh guard detail, and Louis hears Zayn's whistling come to a stop when he's stunned into silence by the boy suddenly on him.

"Um-" Zayn does not oppose the fact that Louis is hugging him. He even has the grace and manners to return the embrace. "Hello there."

Louis hears those heavy footsteps behind him all too soon, before he can even get a whisper out. Zayn is looking at him so intently though; if Louis said something with his eyes it couldn't be left untouched. Hazel eyes were searching his for some sort of explanation.

"Have you seen Niall?" Is the only response Louis can come up with to face the impending curiosity. 

"No, your Highness." Zayn's gaze flickers to the hovering, impatient guard at Louis' tail. His smirk morphs into something smug and amused. "Husband's keeping an even closer eye on you, I see. Charming."

Louis gulps and nods _barely_ while fighting his instinct to look over his shoulder at the guard that doesn't at all make him feel secure. "Y-Yeah so um...- Are you sure?"

"About what, your Highness?" Zayn's flattery knows no bounds but the intelligent glare of his narrowed vision is well refined. He likes to think that he's rubbing his thumbs back and forth over Louis' delicious hips to comfort the boy's worries, ones that he can clearly sense. 

"Niall." Louis is holding Zayn's forearms in a grip that's forbidding him to let go. It may only be an impulsive survival technique but Zayn doesn't need it to read a situation. "I'm a little....worried."

"Alright. I will find him for you, your Highness." Zayn removes his arms from under Louis' and steps back, fluidly fooling Louis' neurotic guard into thinking their tedious communication is finally abate. 

Before Louis can vociferously protest, he holds his breath to listen as a gasp echoes behind him. That sound of shock is followed by frozen time and at last, the crash of a dead man to the ground. Louis jumps out of Zayn's hold to spin around, his balance maintained by his stubborn companion's hands still grasping his waist from behind.

Lying there on the ground before him now is his guard, his slit throat being drained of its blood. Crimson sprayed out onto the waxed tiles and dared to edge on the toes of Louis' shoes, the thick maroon fluid flowed like a lake of scandal. Louis exhaled a breath he hadn't known was being held so strictly, and let his eyes slip shut in relief. 

Until there's something questionably agile slithering around the dip of his hips, Louis can feel nothing but peace. "What-"

A tail that's much less careless and callous than the one Louis knows better than his own arm, comes into view. He sucks in a sharp breath at the sight of this black muscle slipping around his arm and teasing the protruding arch of his collarbone. Zayn was a mutant too, and he'd used the sharpened tip to skilfully slice across the guard's throat.

"Surprised?" Zayn's grin was dazzling and all around charming. His looks were an obvious advantage to him as everything looked breathtaking on him. 

"How-" Louis frowns as he struggles to recall seeing this tail at the stables. "I didn't see this earlier."

"I'm excellent at hiding who I am." Zayn's gaze held a powerful darkness, somehow the red peeking through hazel. He could tell Louis was curious without the boy saying a think. "Make-up, your Highness. And contact lenses."

"Oh." Louis will admit to the coverage being done to an exceptional degree, but blood is nearing his shoe already.

He looked back at the dead guard with eyes peeled wide open, staring blankly as life drained from him like the gushing medium it lived through. Freed from his oppressor, Louis is going to figure out why he feels like his husband is in two bodies. He scanned the empty foyer and felt that adrenaline demise kick in again, fuelling his need to get to the bottom of his original mission. 

"I'm a little disappointed." Zayn was pouting when Louis pushed him away to get some distance between them, although the childish expression was smouldering and attractive on his perfectly carved features. "You used me."

"Shut up." Louis grabs him by his sleeve when he hears voices, unfamiliar ones filtering through the hallway and approaching them. 

His stature and weaker strength stand against him but Zayn is a little more than _just willing_ to follow when Louis leads. They race across the foyer to the nearly pitch black canopy hidden beneath the grand staircase. He remembers being here with Harry when his husband first told him about having a tail and horns, and chewed his lip as fresh hope was renewed like butterflies in his tummy. Harry meant a lot to him, if not _everything._

"Thank you." Louis breathes, true in his appreciation as he looks up at his towering companion. He feels a little rush of guilt and harmonised admiration. "You didn't have to help me, but you did."

Zayn smiles and it feels like the first genuine thing Louis has seen come from him since their first encounter. He doesn't get a verbal response but the shimmer in Zayn's restrained orbs enable him to return the smile.

"Question." Zayn clears his throat when the voices are gone, never having come into the foyer to see the dead corpse after the front door. "Why were you afraid of that guard?"

"I don't know." Louis answers honestly, peering out again to ensure that the coast is clear. "I'm going to find out. Are you willing to help?"

"For a price." Zayn's tail is wrapped in a vice-like grip all the way up Louis' arm, smooth texture grazing pale goosebumps. His voice is like the chilled form of honey and drives any listener mad. 

Louis rolls his eyes and groans. "Nothing inappropriate."

"A kiss." The corner of Zayn's mouth turns up in a smirk as he leans in for a chuckle that Louis is not intimidated by. "A kiss from your fair Highness and I'll serve you forever."

"Ugh." Louis pushes Zayn away by his chest and storms out of their alcove, across the foyer to tackle the staircase. Halfway up and he's met by the familiar weight of a tail once more around his arm, Zayn's jogging having slowed down after catching up. "I'm _not_ kissing you. I'm married."

"So?" Zayn's smug grin doesn't let up one bit. "I believe my deed of _killing a man for you_ is worthy of some reward."

Louis turns left instead of right at the top, taking his trip down the hallway he's only travelled once before. A scream ensues below them after someone he blatantly ignores discovers the limp, lifeless body they left behind. "I'll get you a medal."

Zayn makes an arrogant tsk with the curl of his tongue. "Can't make love to a medal."

"Zayn." Louis stops with a burning silver key in his hand and stops his accomplice from walking straight into him by holding his hands up. The blue of his eyes shine with desperation and truth. "I appreciate the fact that you helped me. From the bottom of my heart, I am truly and eternally grateful. But I love my husband, my heart is his, and quite frankly I'd rather take on he guard myself than hurt him."

A moment of raw silence follows his monologue and Louis finally thinks he's won until a beam of light comes in through a window. He notices that Zayn was distracted entirely from his speech by something unimportant behind him.

"Does he feel the same way, your Highness?" Even Zayn has a detectable hint of something _angered_ when he speaks. His jaw is rigid like the curl of his tail on Louis' skin. 

Louis frowns at him and his preposterous question. "I-I- Of course. Why are you asking me that?"

Zayn grips him by his shoulders to quickly spin the boy around, allowing his gaze to be cast over the outstandingly long hallway before them. There's the staircase to the left immediately after the soft darkness of their current position. But the cue for Louis' heart to drop is prompt when he can see that beyond the staircase is their bedroom door being opened by his husband. His husband, who is holding the hand of some unidentifiable female with the typical ideal body.

It was unmistakably the man Louis had put him to bed less than an hour ago, going into the same room that he was supposed to be in. What did Harry mean by this? Who was _she_? Louis feels sick to his stomach, head heavy with troubles.

"No." Louis starts shaking his head before he even suffers the devastation of heartbreak, rejecting the whole scenario playing out a distance away. "M-My Harry wouldn't."

"I believe that." Zayn's tone let's on less than he actually knows and has to physically turn Louis away. "Look here. Where's that key you had?"

"Um-" Louis finds it and unknowingly hands it over, too concentrated on the pain that's blossomed and now festering to an epidemic of betrayal. His entire system feels like it's failing on him. Misery is just one of the profound emotions weaving its way into his mind. 

"Listen." Zayn takes him by his shoulders and forces Louis' disturbed gaze to meet his. Those gorgeous blues that have captivated everyone in the mansion, including its true Master, are glossy with unshed tears. "Go to the older dining room. Your Harry is there."

"But-"

"Quiet." Puts his finger to Louis' lips, his request for faith evident in how earnestly he looks at Louis. "Go now, and trust me."

Louis wasn't allowed to say anything because Zayn pushed him and without a word, he obeys. On their accord his legs move down the hallway towards the staircase. His eyes always return to the sealed bedroom door so that a fresh wave of pain and regret, of yearning can resurface like burning coals in his heart. 

What had he done? Was Harry so disappointed in him that he sneaked around with other eligible people? How long has he been doing it? 

Even more unanswered questions raced into his mind when he remembers that Zayn sent him on a hurried mission. He had told Louis _'your Harry'_ like this Harry seen betraying him isn't his. What could that mean in reality? Louis' heart paced frantically when he thinks about a plot being underfoot to sabotage Harry's power and their marriage. Who would be so conniving? 

Louis steps down onto the first lower platform when the bedroom door swings open to his right, as does his head snap in its direction. Harry - Louis' head and heart are suffering from blistering aches when he thinks about who he really is - reappears in the archway with an unflattering glare aimed right at him. Zayn was right somehow because Louis' Harry would never look so lethal and have all that rage targeting him. Fear pairs Louis' remorse and something shouts at him to _run._ So he does.

It's an unspoken agreement. Louis doesn't even think he fully participated, but suddenly those red eyes melt into something more sinister and black turns rotten. There was too much relentless hatred in those eyes, it smothered Louis like hands outstretched and wrapped around his neck. Harry's shoulders were hunched and his pupils were well narrowed on him, lips curled in a snarl. 

His legs carry him swiftly down the stairs as he kicks up a sprint to escape the man chasing him. It's nearly futile because this Harry has longer legs, built with more enduring muscle, so he tackles the stairs three at a time. Louis narrowly escapes being captures at the base when his adrenaline comes into action, and he's dashing down the hallway.

Why was he running so desperately away from a man he normally ran to? Had Zayn really put the thought into Louis' head that this could _not_ be his Harry? Louis let his thighs burn vengefully when he tried not to scream at the rapidly approaching heavier footsteps behind him. Twice he managed to escape or dodge Harry's arm reaching for him, finally seeing the dining room's door come into view.

Louis didn't know what to expect of Zayn's instruction, if there is anyone at all on the other side of that door. Hope still energises him and drives him forward while the rest of him turns numb with crippling anxiety. His chest burned like his head pounded with strain, but the handle was _right there_.

"Uh uh." A voice reached his ear. Louis was snatched up clean off the ground, screaming as loud as his shrivelled lungs will allow but it was muffled by the hand covering his mouth. 

_Anguish. Confusion. Frustration. Loathing._ All these feelings passed through Louis to accompany the one emotion that won't buckle. It spread through him like fire, destroying everything in its path. It intimidated his weakest moments and blackmailed them to give in, to stop struggling against the pair of arms that have him airborne. 

"You are a clever one, lovely." This Harry whispers malevolently in Louis' ear, driving spineless and gnawing chills over the boy's skin. "I may need to change my entire plan just for you."

  
* * * * *  


Harry has been an agonised mess all day. He heard of the trespassing incident and how it had directly involved Louis, which led to his tightening of security. Twice he had to run through the mansion's vicinity himself with three guards, and come back utterly exhausted. Minimal sleep led to fatigue halfway through the day, and Harry was so desperate to have Louis in his arms by then that he looked in every corner of the mansion for his sweet husband.

After not finding him even though it's the second time he searched, Harry sent his most trusted guards out of the dining room to look for Louis. He's never been so worried in his life for not having a person return to him after a day. 

The intruding creature had been executed and everyone returned to the mansion before a strict lockdown was initiated. It was just in time as well because a raging storm struck when the steel shutters were being drawn over the windows. Harry had the generators powered down to reserve them and candles went up everywhere else. 

His guards proved inefficient after their third try and Harry let out a guttural scream, letting the Gods know of his pain.

His mental state has been spread like a thin layer of butter on too much toast, having too much to do and not enough motivation. Louis is his top priority and he couldn't find that lover of his anywhere, which drove Harry so far up a wall of plagued madness that after an hour of lightening outside nobody dared to disturb him. He's drunk twice as much neat alcohol as normal and didn't feel a thing, unable to comprehend the papers he had or the words spoken to him.

Louis, his life and everything in between, was missing. His throne was toppled in an ironic display of how his chest felt, how rampant the demons in his mind were now that Louis hadn't come to soothe them. Those little monsters needed comfort from Louis too, more than anything. They'd listen up and fall into obedience whenever the boy was near, but they're just tearing Harry apart.

It's well past evening now and Harry is sat on the floor by his table, staring at the same spot on the door for hours. He can't function and everyone knows how unstable that is, but Harry can't hear their concern over his own inner turmoil.

At something to ten at night Rose is the only one proven to have enough courage, and comes into the dining room with her Master's supper. He's still there on the floor looking limp and without purpose, staring blankly at the door. 

"Master?" She sets the tray down and comes closer to their volatile leader, dusting out her apron. 

Harry grunts but they both know he won't hear if she talks. He's too lost in his memory of when Louis was still with him.

"He knows you're waiting for him." Rose also felt Louis' absence. He's become a son to her, taken under her wing for mentoring and protection. "He isn't gone."

Rose has to leave after she waits ten minutes and all she manages to elicit from Harry is a shuffle to put one leg down and bend the other. She happens upon Mike in the hallway where he's guarding Harry's door even after the Master asked to be left alone. All the other guards took this opportunity to be off duty but some were loyal to a fault.

"Come to the kitchen with me." Rose yawns a bit. "I'll make you a snack. Can't stay vigilant without food."

"Alright." Mike is exhausted too if the way his shoulders droop at the first word indicate anything. "Heard anything?"

"Nah." Rose shakes her head a little heavily, just one specimen of the loss of something grand from the mansion.

Harry's stuck within himself, listening to the thunder crack outside across his property. He imagines the destruction they'll have to clean up tomorrow in the form of torn down trees and disrupted bushes. The gates will have to be secured first, but Harry doesn't give a damn anymore. He'd like for the storm to incinerate all he's worked for, then take him with.

Someone else chooses to disturb his self destructive mourning and Harry barely looks up. Whoever it is can handle his harsh attitude towards them.

"Brother." Except this voice has him fighting to locate his wits, colour draining from his face and blood rushing away. Pale and irrevocably stunned, Harry meets the eye of a close companion he hasn't seen in a lifetime. "I have something of yours."


	15. Chapter Fifteen: End of Part One.

**_[A/N: Spot the line I stole from Animal and you get a corndog. - S xx]_ **

**"Brother." Except this voice has him fighting to locate his wits, colour draining from his face and blood rushing away. Pale and irrevocably stunned, Harry meets the eye of a close companion he hasn't seen in a lifetime. "I have something of yours."**

Harry scrambles to his feet with a rare type of urgency that even he cannot really feel, because there's a ringing in his ears and a flood of anger that masks any good. A lightning beam strikes just outside in the meadow when Harry is upright and formidable, the dull light casting him a ghoulish pale colour.

He hasn't seen this person or heard this voice in many forgotten years. His _only brother_ whom Harry remembers treasuring, protecting when the toughest time of their lives were at hand. The flashing imagery come rolling in from his memory. Harry still felt regret like a bitter plague in his chest for what he'd done to that same kin of his, leading to the vagrant revenge that glares like daggers into him from across the room.

Edward is in a black shirt and he stands in the doorway, blocking it with one arm extended behind it. Harry couldn't see through the obstruction but the skipping of his heart was true enough to his sixth sense. Louis is behind that door, kept from him by a spiteful intruder.

"Give him back to me." Harry manages to say without the words burning like acid on his tongue. The relationship between him and Edward was spoiled long ago, never to be regained. There was supposed to be nothing but hatred between them. "Edward!"

"Funny how it's the _other way around_ now, isn't it?" Edward is sickeningly smug and he reveals one unarmed hand to drum his fingers along the door's wood. 

Harry goes rigid all over at the reminder of their last confrontation, the most gruesome of all. It still haunted him in the form of nightmares that he never told Louis about, yet managed to steal vast amounts of comfort from his humble lover. 

Years ago Edward too had a lover, the fairest woman either brother had ever seen. But Harry had just gotten them out of the horrid lab where they were put under the needle for the worst of experiments, and the last thing he needed was a relationship. Edward loved her though, dearly so and it made Harry happy to see his brother feeling so fulfilled.

It took a whole month for Harry to stumble the same lover of Edward's in the company of foe. She worked for the people who put Harry and Edward onto lab tables, and her feelings for Edward were nothing but lies. Harry got rid of her in a manner too brutal and when Edward found out, still then the truth was kept from him. 

Their fight was so intense that Edward suffered a blow to the head, one so severe that Harry was almost certain he'd killed his own brother. The next day Harry woke up and Edward was gone. 

"Edward." Harry's throat was dry, his tongue parched. He curled his fingers into fists as he fought to restrain his grief because while his brother is finally with him again, the love of his life is not. "You can't hold a grudge for what I did. I did it for you."

"Liar!" Edward's voice rose several octaves and crashed onto Harry's ears louder than the storm. He had a feverish anger that powered the red glow of his eyes, a staggering comparison to Harry's weaker state. "You _took_ her from me-"

"She didn't love you, Edward!" Harry kept looking at the door in the hopes that he'll see his Louis, alive and well. He was frantic, a desperate man. _"She lied to you!"_

"Bastard, don't you ever say that!" Edward acted too quickly and suddenly Louis was in the room with them, the door slammed shut. He shoved Louis forward between them but his tail was still secured around the quaking boy.

Harry took in the terrified condition of his lover and husband, trying to communicate with his eyes that they'll be okay soon. Louis has dirtied clothing and bruised skin, all purple and distasteful yellow. He had tear streaks down his face, skin blotchy with exhaustion and fear. Those arms of his were hugging himself, protecting what little of his body he was allowed to.

"H-H-Harry-" Louis wanted to speak, but it was a croak. None of the usual magic or sensational appeal were present. 

"It's alright, little one. I'm here." Harry reassures him, _promises_ him with plain and breathy words that convey his raw feelings. There pain and conflict in his gaze, both forming an abuse too great to combat. 

Edward's glare narrows deceptively on his brother's communication with Louis, and jealousy leads to him tugging the muscle of his tail so that Louis hissed and whimpered. His middle was being wrung out like a cloth, twisted too many times and squeezing the air out of him.

"Edward." Harry sneered threateningly upon noticing the fatigued sigh that his husband forced out. He felt hurt to know that Louis wasn't safe, realising just how much he's let the boy down. "Stop this. Let him go."

His brother is too far gone into the deep pit of misery and diseased hatred, there was too much rage within him to just expel it. Edward's empowered gaze met Harry's across the distance that separated them. It was _painfully obvious_ how much he was hurting Harry by keeping Louis. 

"He hasn't done anything to you." Harry pleads, scraping the bottom of the barrel for mercy. Every infliction on Louis would hurt his husband just as much. 

Edward's grim expression only turned more bitter. "That's not true. Each time I look at _him_ -" He turned his rotten attention to Louis, a tilt to his head and insidious glint to his eyes. "-I remember what you stole from me."

Suddenly, Louis is shrieking when the tail that controls his movements grows to be so constricting so as to crush his insides with a steely hold. It feels like the tail is squeezing tight enough that along with his screaming, comes out the indeterminate howl of wheezing. His knees hit the ground from excruciating radiation of hurt and harm; Louis' nails claw at the band around him vehemently praying that it will release him.

"Edward!" Harry takes an unconscious step forward, his own chest tightening Hellishly around his dying heart. His wide eyes were darting between Louis and his brother, grief striking him like the lightning outside. "Edward, your fight is with me. Don't bring my-"

"My _fight_?" Edward snarls, sans remorse or sympathy to the fallen boy that's his prisoner. "This is revenge, big brother."

Harry steeled his feelings and raised his head, diverting all his doubts to appear as arrogant as the day Louis met him. He screws his jaw tight so the outline of his hollow cheek presses through the skin, the depth of his dark gaze turning into a threat. "You were always weak, Edward. Revenge after all these years? That's as pathetic as ever _loving_ someone just for affection."

Flipping the tables on Edward did not go well on the latter. He was evidently surprised by Harry's attitude change and had to fight harder to not cower like he had when they were true brothers before. There was a glimpse in time when Edward's resolution faltered, his lips fish mouthing. "I'm not weak. You never allowed me any authority, brother."

Edward's words fell like a serpent's acidic hiss on Harry's ears. He scoffed, masking his glance at Louis to make sure his boy is still coping. "You had time to earn it, like I did. Yet you did _nothing_! Don't you dare come into _my home_ and take _my husband_ from me because you're a petty fool." 

Harry had taken the strides necessary to be in Edward's face by the end of his raving speech, at perfect eye-level with his only sibling. He sees a flicker of surrender in the red of Edward's eyes, and the loosening of his tail around Louis who gasps for air on the ground. 

His brother has been sick all his life, Harry knew that. He was born perfectly healthy while that vitality cost Edward bone density and mental capacity. As children, Harry remembers vaguely how much he was favoured over his poor sibling. Edward was made tough through brutality and Harry couldn't save him then. The departure of his only remaining family at a time when they needed each other most, made it even more hurtful because Harry was once dedicated to protecting Edward.

"You've caused havoc in my home." Harry seethes. He has always been able to intimidate Edward when he was out of line. "No brother of mine would do that."

Edward shivered and relented by bowing his head a bit. "We stopped being brothers a long time ago."

"Yes." Harry nodded jerkily, crimson melding and morphing into crystalised bloody diamonds. "And you can blame yourself for that. You _will_."

Wincing at the bite of Harry's harsh speech, Edward felt the need to obediently nod and accept the repercussions. "You've done well for yourself here, brother."

Harry laughs like it's the most painstakingly obvious facet of their current situation. "Do you think I did it through lurking in the shadows and being a coward? You are my blood, Edward, but this new world of ours has no place for fools."

Edward looks at Harry like he's simultaneously bruised and infuriated at his kin's cruel taunts. He's been spoken to this way his entire life _except Harry_ until now when he's betrayed that trust all too well. "One day I'll have to prove myself to you."

"One day, I look forward to it." Harry made his intentions apparent first before reaching out and clasping either side of Edward's face. He restrained himself up to the moment when his subtly trembling lips kissed his brother's forehead. "But it won't be in this life, my brother."

The moment that the blade of Harry's tail became buried in Edward's throat was a trigger of agony for everyone in the room. Edward could not make a sound except gurgle and choke audibly on the blood pooling in his mouth, the lot of it running down his chin to splash onto the floor. Some sprayed onto his Harry's shirt from how violent the act of plunging his only weapon into his brother's neck was, digging around until every cord - for air and life - was severed.

A dying Edward sagged against Harry's body and relied on his brother for one last thing. Harry obliged without needing to utter a word, and didn't pull away from kissing Edward's forehead when the onslaught of grief came through his gut. This was a mercy to his brother after fighting his whole life to be accepted in a world where he wasn't ever going to survive on his own.

"Forgive me." Harry moved his lips to Edward's temple, embracing the quickly paling body. He closed his eyes and gave this whole moment to his last of kin. "Forgive me, my brother."

Edward was trying to get something out but the gruelling truth of not having a voice or the energy left, was slowly taking him apart. He gripped Harry wherever he could but soon even that began to weaken. There was no need to ever forgive his brother for he was the only kind soul he's known. 

"It's alright now." Harry cleared the emotion from his throat and cradled the back of Edward's skull. "All is forgotten, Edward. You'll always be my brother."

In the heartbeat that Edward went completely limp, Harry sucks in a sharp breath and takes his time to settle the turmoil brewing in his chest. He gets on his knees to set his deceased brother down, fulfilling one last duty.

  
* * * * *  


Louis was not allowed to leave the bedroom a day later when he's been given medication that will help lessen the injury of bruises and stiff back. It's a day later when he walks out onto the balcony with Snow at his ankles, to look over on Edward's funeral.

Harry was silently adamant on having one and Louis didn't argue. After what he's witnessed as a distraught bystander, Louis knew better than to do anything other smile and be encouraging. His husband was passive about his feelings towards the death of a past loved one, but Louis could see through any amount of veiling.

He stood against the railing now with his arms spread and hands pressed to the marble counter. Out there on the meadow below him, was his husband all by his lonesome because there's nobody else who cared for Edward. It was morbid to know that Harry will have his brother buried somewhere on their property but Louis did not oppose it.

Despite his strict instruction to stay indoors, Louis pulled on a hoodie and shoes before jogging out of the room. He managed to escape being noticed and got out onto the meadow through a back door, flinching just once at a spasm in his protesting spine. 

Before him across a mildly strenuous distance was his darling Harry, dressed in pure black from head to toe. There was even a ridiculously camouflaged scarf around his head, securing and holding back his abundance of curls. He had his hands in his pockets and those legs a little spread for steadiness.

Harry heard Louis' feet on the grass and didn't turn around, just let himself stare emptily at his brother's coffin. A small, warm body came up beside him and Harry didn't even waste his breath in questioning Louis' stubbornness. 

"Hey." Louis extended his arm upward, hiding his dull soreness from the act, and cupped Harry's cheek. His skin was ice cold and Harry's gaze remained downcast. "Doing okay, love?"

Bleeding red met cautious blue and there was _so much_ sorrow in the former that Louis had to step forward. He framed Harry's face and kissed him with effort, feeling tears at his own eyes for his husband's mourning. Harry chose to embrace Louis so firmly, grasping his lover's hips and burying his face in the boy's neck.

"I'm so sorry, my love." Louis gasped at feeling Harry's harsh breathing on his skin, his racing heart under his fingertips. This man has lost nearly everyone and Louis has nothing to say. "I can't know what this feels like but I'm here for you. Always. I'm never leaving you."

Harry kept Louis in his arms for hours after he put Edward into the ground and erected his tombstone. He escorted his husband back into the mansion that was no longer under lockdown, and went straight into his study without a word. Louis deviated to the kitchen because Harry hasn't eaten in nearly two days, which troubles him.

Nobody is in the kitchen while Louis procures a decent meal of pasta for Harry and a sandwich for himself. His movements were mechanical as he tried to refrain from drastic motion, all of which will bury more anguish in the root of his spine. There's no clear memory of what the doctor told him, but he knows that the force of Edward's tail having curled so tightly around him left his back to need healing.

Louis balances the two plates of food while he walks to the foyer and beyond into Harry's study. All the working servants have made themselves scares around their Master, sympathetic towards him yet still fearing the possibility of a backlash. 

"Harry?" Louis makes sure the door is closed behind him before speaking to the hunched, purposefully busied figure in the throne chair. 

His husband pauses writing but can't look up until a second later. Although he appears fluidly impassive, Louis still climbs onto his lap and kisses him with all the comfort he can. "I'm not hungry, little one."

"I know." Louis feels content at Harry's arms winding around him, all muscle and possession. He traces his fingertips over those extra plump and darkened lips of his lover, moving up to the bags beneath his eyes. "I'd still like to feed you."

Disagreement is on the tip of Harry's tongue but it remains there like impending ruin, falling into disrepute when Louis insists. A fork is twirled amongst the pasta sauce and Louis holds it up to Harry's lips. He hesitates with a smile before Harry's mouth opens wide enough for the food to be placed on his tongue. It takes a few more bites for the plate to be scraped clean.

Harry's eyes were on him like a hawk, nothing but a glass-like shimmer over the bloody orbs. He's staring so intently that Louis feels a little squirmy, biting his lip from the feeling of Harry tracing the nobs on his spine with deft fingers. 

"He used to cry a lot." Louis is stunned silent by Harry's sudden voice beginning to speak, and do so of _Edward_. It wasn't difficult to deduce when the only readable emotion in Harry's eyes was that of remorse. 

Louis knows he's expected to reply and engage his husband to help let go sooner, so he does. Or he _tries_. "W-Why?"

Hands on his waist bring him closer so Louis is braced against Harry's chest, his cheek on the man's shoulder. Harry even helps Louis fold his legs across the man's lap, holding the bend of his knees so Louis doesn't have to. He moves his lips to Louis' forehead. 

"He was terrified of the dark." Harry whispers, a phantom's groan. "I don't remember much from....before but- I recall him constantly wanting to sleep in my bed with me."

Louis looked up so his chin sat on Harry's bulky shoulder, caught between the dip of two adjacent muscle formations. "He was young at the time, wasn't he?"

A smile was birthed onto Harry's features, originating from his pool of fond memories - as little as they were of the time. He shook his head, albeit accompanied by a hoarse chuckle. "Nearly twenty-four. I'd ask him why he was being a baby and do you know what he told me every single time?"

"What did he say?" Louis asks uncertainly. 

His brow was furrowed and he was trying with utmost dedication, to remain still but all he wanted to do was cuddle his husband to happiness. There's a nagging voice at the back of his head that discouraged such displays, knowing full well that Harry _must_ recover only by unveiling his past burdens.

Harry's lips curled into a little laugh, so low and dry that it almost doesn't exist. "He told me there were monsters under his bed." 

All the humour fell from his expression as Harry's frown grew to be physically pained and he took Louis' hand in his, concentrating on the creases of the boy's knuckles. He had to force himself to continue for the sake of letting go, of recovering and getting closure.

"It wasn't the monsters he was scared of." Harry clears his throat and briefly offers Louis a saddened smile, eyes even redder and skin a little bruised beneath those gems. "He said they'd destroy him when I wasn't looking, and take him to a place where he's always alone."

"Oh-" Louis doesn't know what to say to that. He's looking up at his husband with nothing but conflict. "Oh Harry. He's forgiven you, you know that."

Louis didn't know Edward at all except their worst encounters and he could find no means for mourning the way Harry could. He would not cry for this brother who's passed on, but rather his own husband who still wishes to come to grips with the tragedy. It's apparent to Louis now that they were once close and that never truly died for Harry's conscience. He loved his brother to the bitter-sweet end. 

Learning from Harry that Edward was afraid of dying solely because he'd have no one in the possible afterlife, did tug on the strings of Louis' heart. He caresses the man's cheek with his knuckles in delicate strokes, using his thumbs to outline the dip in his hollow cheeks. Harry doesn't display feeling like everyone Louis' known. All his pain was untainted and purely mental.

"Harry." Louis dropped his forehead to rest against Harry's and looked into the man's deep gaze. "Come to bed with me, my love. You should not be working now."

There's a flicker of something defensive that reveals itself only momentarily, before hiding once more behind his plagued worries. He can only nod to surrender and wake up after Louis takes his hand, leading him like a subordinate out of the office. 

Louis gets Harry into the sanctity of their _new_ bedroom. He didn't want to protest and cause a scene at such a time when Harry is most likely to lash out, but he did refuse to go into their own bedroom. It felt violated by the presence of too many unfamiliar people and Louis just does not want to deal with feeling them in the one space that's supposed to be completely theirs.

"Come on." Louis smiled kindly at his more than slightly confused other half. "Off with the clothes."

Harry first looked around the room. "What are we doing in here, little one?"

There was the dawn of the fact that Louis didn't _inform_ Harry about him shifting their room here. He now chewed his lip vengefully and scratched nervously at his opposite arm. "I-I don't want to sleep next door anymore."

"Why not?" Harry was frowning and Louis felt like such a jerk for making him deal with this now. 

He didn't know what to do, being a third party who was nothing but harmed by the person that his husband is upset over losing. It's more than just a blow to Louis' heart; it's the shredding and grinding of the weak muscle to a pulp. He's never voiced it because he didn't know if it would further aggravate Harry or not, at this difficult time. 

But Louis knew he had the right to this. There were still bruises on his skin and less than subtle aches in his recovering spine, all from a broken Edward. Louis didn't want to be selfish so he tried his best to keep those reminders to himself.

"Louis?" Harry coaxes after a while when Louis' done rubbing his skin raw.

"Oh um-" Louis clears his throat and flashes a meaningless smile. "It's just that....- I can't go back there, Harry. I mean, h-he was in there and he brought-"

"My brother?" Harry cut across Louis' rambling with a blade too sharp, so that it managed to unintentionally chip at Louis' heart. 

Louis looked down shamefully before nodding. "He took some-"

"By that logic, Louis, we should be getting rid of many things." Harry spat, anger bubbling onto the surface as his eyes hardened and his fists curled. "He was in the dining room and the foyer downstairs. He even touched you, maybe I should-"

Harry did not have to go on for Louis to know precisely what would have come out in the end. He gulped, deeply wounded. _Maybe I should get rid of you too._ It cut like blunt ice that kept hacking away at him and making his skin rip itself open so that his heart was even more vulnerable. He knew it was coming from a hateful and even more hurt place but Louis couldn't do more than try to help Harry. 

"Fuck. Little one, I didn't mean it that way." Harry tries to apologise, stepping up to Louis in a hurry to see those beautiful blues that just won't lift up from the ground. He barely touches Louis' cheek before the boy is pushing him away. "I'm so sorry, baby. I-I-.....- Please, forgive me."

Louis had to choke back what he truly felt like saying, letting all his own hurt be noticed too. Even when Harry is at his weakest he can't give Louis or himself any hope that their love might be mutual. It makes Louis want to ball up in a corner and let himself rot because doubts are being seeded in his mind.

Why else would Harry plan the funeral of a brother he hasn't seen in years or brought up, instead of ask Louis at least once whether he was coping with the recovery of his body? The bruises, the near broken spine. Louis doesn't know whether his husband outright ignores those realities to feel less guilty or he just genuinely doesn't care.

"I'm not going back there." Louis wipes the tear away before Harry notices - or neglects it. "Do whatever you want, Harry. Tomorrow I'm writing a letter to my mom telling her that I'm coming to visit. You _will not_ change my mind. Goodnight."

Harry is left standing there like a dumb fool after Louis' briefing when the boy storms out. Louis will sleep in the stables if he has to because he's terrified of sharing a bed with Harry now. What if he wakes up and Harry isn't at all near him because he's bothered by Louis? Could he have become a troublesome memory for his husband because Louis is the reason that Edward is dead? 

Feeling all kinds of betrayal and hurt, Louis finds one of the available guestrooms and hides out in it. His face has heated up terribly from all his frustration, the anguish and gruelling dismay. Tears were dried on his cheek and neck, left to be soaked by the pillow when Louis tosses himself onto the bed. It doesn't smell like his bed and his stomach churns with knots, twists and turns pulling on his insides.

He cries into the pillow like a weak-witted idiot, sobbing loudly into the feathery object. The ache in his back is so severe that it fuels his cries, his muffled screams to release tension. Each movement felt like a dagger plunging itself into his back, and Louis whimpered as he recalled the days when he had his mother to baby him. 

Louis can't hear the footsteps approaching his door or the creak of it being drawn open. He hiccups through his sobs and breathes raggedly in slow drags that scrape his tired lungs. There's a weight that settles on the bed behind him and Louis has the sinister thought about this finally being the right kind of intruder.

"Little one?" Lips are at his shoulder and neck. Louis shuffles away from Harry's deeply troubled voice and curls up. "Baby, I.....I didn't know I was causing you so much pain. I was disloyal as a husband."

There it is again, the constant echoing reminder that Harry's his husband who doesn't want to love him. It gnaws at his mind like a captive beast. Louis stares at the fine threading of the pillow and tries to swallow around the tear-clotted lump in his throat.

"We've been married barely two months, baby. I'm not very good at this." Harry is still talking from somewhere behind him. "I've never had to be devoted to someone before, my brother is- _was_ the only one before you. And it was so long ago, in another life of mine."

Louis feels like he's barely breathing but he listens because soon after tomorrow he won't be hearing Harry's voice for a while. 

"For him, I would have tried to get him to a status like mine. But for you, little one, I'd let everything burn. Everything and everyone. I don't want any of it if I can't have you." Harry is brave enough to touch Louis' arm, head filled with self loathing and hatred. 

Louis hears this confession and feels so cynical, such a selfish boy he can be at times. He knows Harry is noble and will care for him, does care for him even now. But he needs to go home and clear his head of the warped misery it's become swathed in. Each day Louis has to face Harry's eyes knowing that every emotion is swimming in them except the one that is reflected to him. 

"I know you didn't mean what you said." He croaks, flinching from Harry's arm tightening on his forearm. "I forgave you."

The bed protests to Harry kicking off his shoes and slotting himself in behind his beautiful husband. Harry wraps his arms around Louis whether he wants it or not, lacing his fingers together on the boy's belly. He squeezes his eyes shut when he's kissing the back of Louis' neck and embracing him desperately.

"Please don't leave me." He rasps, a broken man with a shredded heart. "Don't go anywhere without me."

"I have to." Louis whispers back, his own hands curled up against his chest so he can stop them from holding Harry. "I'll come back, Harry."

"I can't risk you coming back just to say goodbye." Harry presses his lips against Louis' temple, frowning deeply in the midst of an emotional tempest. "I won't lose you."

Louis wants to laugh and cry, kick and scream. "You'll be fine without me for a while. You're a good man, Harry."

"No." Harry shakes his head even though Louis can't see it and brands kisses all over the boy's neck. "I will lock us in this room. Handcuff you to me. I'm not letting you leave me."

"You'd keep me here like that?" _Like a prisoner_. Louis sounds berated and exhausted when he speaks. "Okay."

Harry groans, his pain being the fault of his own. Louis was slipping through his fingers faster and faster. He was losing this one person who completely understood him and still stuck around to endure it all. Whatever arrogance brought him Louis, was being betrayed by itself now.

  
* * * * *  


Louis was making tea and observing a family of doves outside the kitchen window, when that tranquillity was split by the crashing of a door swinging back on itself. He jumped from his startle and spun around to see was being so tragically violent, hoping to help them relax a bit.

It was just a flurry of arms and lips which caused Louis to drop his tea into the sink. He was crushed to a chest in a warm, sickeningly comforting embrace by arms he knew by heart. His fingers barely made it out to grip Harry's biceps and support himself, breathing harshly into his obscene husband's collarbone.

"What happened?" He manages to ask, although barely quelling the rage in his heart. 

Harry kisses him first, on his forehead and then his cheek. "I thought you'd gone when I woke up alone."

"Oh." Louis mumbles softly. He's been thinking in the silence and is finally ready to speak. "I want to tell you why I'm leaving, Harry."

"Please." Harry makes a defeated animalistic noise of a victor clinging to his livelihood. Louis hugged him back because of it, because after he was alone to think he realised something. "Please don't leave me, little one."

"It isn't because of you that I'm going home for a short while." Louis confesses to his spouse, total and opaque honesty spearing the bite of his words. Harry feels them like shattered glass on the inside of his skull, but he listens. "I need to get away to be with my family, to think. I haven't seen my mother in almost two months and _I miss her_ , Harry. Please understand when I say that this isn't because of you or us, just me."

  
* * * * *  


An entire day has gone by before any letter of response comes back from Louis' family to say they're eager to see him again. Harry was the one to first receive it and in a moment of weakness, contemplated throwing it into the fire so that Louis never left. But as he stared down at those sparks and flames, he knew that the more noble thing to do was let his husband go.

Security is going to be a challenge and Harry's arranged for Louis to be accompanied on his trip by his best men, but not before himself.

"What do you mean?" Louis stood up from the sofa he was lounging on by the window in Harry's study. He crossed his arms over his narrow chest and frowned. "You're coming with?"

"To leave and come back for you." Harry clarifies a little awkwardly. He waits for Louis' small nod before continuing. "You will stay there for a week, yes?"

Louis has it in him to grimace in remembering how he and Harry fought over the time period. He started with a month, to which his husband all but on his knees to beg for a week. "Yes, love. A week."

Harry was about to leave Louis to his privacy again but he was pulled back, a delicate hand encircling his forearm. He easily buckled so that Louis was against him, his hand cupping the boy's cheek. Their kisses were different now, far more matured and less risky. Harry kissed up his neck to Louis' lips before slotting their mouths together, moaning through their whimsical union before trailing his lips back down to the boy's clavicle.

"Baby." Harry divided the duties of his hands, one groping Louis' bottom under his shirt and over his shorts while his other palm cupped the boy's skull. He rocks them a little from side to side, soothing the already developed rage in his chest. "You'll be okay without me, little one?"

Louis' thumbs are brushing back and forth over Harry's shoulders, his fingers curled into his shirt's fabric. "I'll miss you, Daddy. I've gotten used to sleeping in your bed."

" _Our_ bed." Harry corrects, full of charm and hope. He smiles when he kisses Louis' forehead and breathes in the presence of his boy. "I won't be sleeping until you return."

"You better be sleeping, love." Louis buries his face in Harry's neck, the warmth and familiarity becoming the sheer essence of comfort. "You haven't been resting enough recently."

"That's because I know tomorrow you're leaving me." Harry clarifies, nuzzling his sweet husband indelicately. He picks Louis up by his thighs and hugs him impossibly closer. "I'm not going to be able to touch you for seven days, little one. How am I expected to survive?"

Louis had a thought at that and it fuelled his actions. He got himself down onto his own two feet, grabbing Harry's hand to lead him out of the kitchen. Their bedroom is where they landed up, with Louis having the grace to remove his clothing on the short trip to the bed. Harry was not far behind when he peeled off his shirt and pants, crawling over his delectably husband with ease.

It well and truly felt like their last hours together when they made love, ravenous and desperate. Harry refused to allow Louis anywhere but on his back beneath him, protecting his lover the way _he must_ as a dutiful husband. He let his misery and regret fade into the background when he was inside Louis, tight and hot like the perfect sheath just for him. Kisses marked Louis' skin from thighs to neck, love-bites even more so.

Harry's thrusts were slow and pleasureful as he meant to treasure Louis' expressions and the feeling of him rather than abuse it. He entangled their tongues and fingers, holding his boy's hands away when his hips magnetised to Louis'. His lover was made for him, crafted by the Gods in his little breathy moans and shrieks from the harsh impact on his sweetest spot.

He made sure to whisper in Louis' ear all the lovely words he had dedicated to him, from the depths of his soul. Harry loved Louis' hands on him when he reached for the boy's delicious thighs, pulling them closer at the same time that Louis starts to scratch up his back. It feels more ideal than it should, the creation of angry red scrapes on his husband's muscular back. Across the already present red ink from his gruesome tattoo, was the presence of Louis' fingernails leaving marks.

They went once, twice and lost count when Louis was rolled onto his front, taken hard and fast from behind. He screamed and bit his own arm before Harry offered his mouth up for torture, getting his tongue nipped more than once. The man's tail sneaked below Louis and continually rubbed against his hole, snubbing along the gaping rim once or twice.

Harry's body curled around Louis when they were too exhausted to challenge their stamina further. Louis was coming off his high slower than he, and let Harry suckle unceremoniously on his nipples in turn while he came down. 

"Baby." Harry turned his face into Louis' neck, his voice raspy and breathless. "You're so beautiful. Everything about you is breathtaking."

Louis circled his legs around Harry's waist, his cheeks heating up not just because his husband was still bottomed out in him. He caressed Harry's cheek with his knuckles and smiles humbly when his husband leans into it, red eyes buried in sapphire blue, while the owner steals solace from Louis. He thinks he can love this man forever and not have those feelings returned, because that's not how love should work.

"You should look at yourself sometime." Louis says, croaky and insecure because his throat was less than well. He could flick his tongue and still feel Harry on it. "Charming and handsome. It's no wonder marrying you wasn't easy."

Harry chuckles hoarsely into Louis' reddened ear and kisses him another time, drawing the boy a little off the mattress to deepen it. "Sex and money are still the two secrets to ruling the world, little one."

"Well then-" Louis wraps his arms all the way around Harry's neck, gasping long and loud when teeth sink into his pulse. "-I'm glad I married a man who can give me both."

That saucy comment promptly led to another heated round of love making, initiated by Louis climbing onto Harry's lap and started to round his hips before the man was even braced. He was ethereal on top of him, bouncing with little dips in his belly when he breathed. Harry let his elbows dig into the mattress so that Louis' fingers could be sewn between his, his arms used as sources of balance for the boy.

Louis was a champ on Harry's lap when he controlled the quick pace their bodies moved at, biting his lip raw and moaning brokenly. Harry was fixated on the pleasured look taking over Louis' face as he got closer with each thrusts. The man was _intoxicated_ with how velvety the texture of Louis' walls rubbing against his c*ck was. It was what could completely destroy him.

They climaxed together for the first time without any instruction. Harry hugged Louis to his chest and thrusted up into him furiously. Louis was screaming into Harry's shoulder and biting down harder by the second when his body was being more and more mistreated. It felt viciously divine. 

"D-D-Daddy." Louis swallowed and licked his own lips, moaning again when Harry cupped his bottom reverently. 

"Hmm." Harry kneaded and dug his fingertips into Louis' cheeks, smirking up at his blushing husband. "I don't think I ever want you to get off my c*ck."

Louis giggled and poked Harry's cheek, pouting when the latter retaliated by spanking him lightly. "We all can't have what we want, Styles." 

He said it jokingly before pecking Harry's lips and rolling off him to take a shower, but Harry's eyes followed him with a pang of hurt in his chest. The words rang in his mind, ricocheting off the walls of his blistered skull. Louis asked to love him and be loved back, but Harry didn't. He didn't give his husband what he wanted either. 

Harry got up to follow Louis into the shower without permission. He was undressed entirely and gloriously bare, his skin slick with sweat and vibrant bruises. He was so gorgeous with the finest features and heart of gold. Now, Louis was testing the water before stepping under its spray. Harry made sure to grip his hip when he joined the boy, attaching his lips to Louis' neck. 

"Harry-" Louis was surprised to have him here, his hand gripping Harry's forearm. "What are you doing?"

Harry's palm slid across Louis' front to his belly, fanning his fingers out over his pudge. He sucked a complementing hickie into Louis' neck adjacent to an existing one, kissing it with wet lips when he finished. "You're my soft spot, little one."

"You have no weaknesses, Harry." Louis reached up and framed Harry's cheek in his palm. 

It was bitter coming off his tongue because recent experience has proven that while Louis' existence is predicated on his devotion to Harry, the latter can do just fine without him. Harry has spoken the sweetest things to him on the regular but words mean little when his actions are louder and contradicting those statements.

  
* * * * *  


"For the road, dear." Rose has packed more than a small snack for Louis' trip in a few minutes. "Be safe and have fun."

It has been promised to last a few hours and Harry is not registering any hope for breaks. He has already gotten the best of his men outside in their leaving party, speaking to each on their part in this journey. Mike is going to be the one who stays with Louis when everyone returns home. 

"Thank you." Louis accepts the food and kisses her cheek before bidding adieu temporarily. "Bye!"

He jogs out of the kitchen and knows that he's got his husband running late on the schedule they planned. The day is bright and no clouds hinder their weather future. Louis feels mostly like rejoicing when he steps out, but that is contained by his slight need to stay here where he's grown so comfortable.

Harry is at the base of the steps waiting for him, just like the night of their first unconventional date. Louis smiles at him despite Harry's permanent frown and worried eyes, racing down to him. "Hi."

"Have you said your goodbye's?" Harry brushes Louis' hair back and kisses him gently. 

"Yes." Louis answers. He looks around at the men on horses and the absence of any motor vehicle. Cars were abolished when fuel was scarce and other aspects took precedence. 

"This is for you." Harry whistles somewhere to his left and some of the engaged men talking to one another move aside distractedly. Coming up between them was quite possibly the most elegant stallion Louis' ever seen.

He had a tall, muscular neck that stood up proudly. Pure black except for a little white star on his nose. The creature was all kinds of exquisite and Louis adored him already, the way he stopped before him and bowed a little. A horse of this reputation was easily much taller than Louis but he was magnificent and already loyal.

"Really?" Louis reached out and brushed the stallion's neck with his whole hand. "He's wonderful, Harry. Thank you."

"You are very welcome, little one." Harry loved watching Louis when he was so transfixed, eyes twinkling and crinkling from his smile. "He's young and the best stallion I've seen come from our stables."

Louis grinned when he gave Harry a kiss of gratitude and cheer. He was also quick to admire the leather saddle mounted on the horse's back, the new reins. Harry helped him get up into the perfect position, only releasing Louis' hand when he was certain. It took some getting used to because Louis' never had a horse for himself before, and brushed through this one's mane to hear it neigh, dragging its foot through the sand.

"Happy, little one?" He asked, the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"You know just how to make me smile." Louis leaned over the side and Harry gave him a tender kiss to complete the reply. 

**_[A/N: End of Part One. - S xx]_ **


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